People Like Me EP Review, Summer 2002
by Jon Reed

I got the airmail package from Swamp Music yesterday, ripped it open, took out the first Hanoi recording in more than fifteen years, and felt anticipation mixed with dread: please, guys, don't disappoint me! Then I saw that the songwriting credits had both Michael and Andy's name on it. They finally got the "equal collaborators" thing worked out, and if nothing else, it's good to see the guys back together and the wiser for it.

"People Like Me" - Great first single, sounds better the more you listen to it. It's not Andy's tastiest riff ever, however, the energy is high and the guitarwork throughout the song is first rate. I just love the effortless rock and roll feel Andy brings to anything he does. What I respect most about this song is that the lyrics, "frustrated, so jaded...", "radio and MTV need people like me" reflect the truth of what these guys have gone through. Too often, these "reunion/rebirth" events seem to involve the band catering to a youth audience, with sex and drugs being the main tired themes. I wouldn't have minded an even ballsier, louder, rawer sound, but it's still a fine beginning to the collaboration. I'm tempted to use the word "triumph," but it's not quite there, how about "great first single, almost a triumph."

"Lucky" - a bit of a "tosser" track not unlike certain songs Hanoi used to whip out back in the day. But it's a lot harder for these guys to charm me with just about anything they do anymore. Back in the Hanoi Rocks of days past, it seemed like every song had some kind of appeal of its own. But no more. I would rate "Lucky" only so-so. Not bad, but I won't listen to it much.

"Winged Bull" - a Hall and Oates cover ends up sounding good??? I always felt that the keyboard-driven sound of "Whispers in the Dark" represented a whole new direction Hanoi could have gone in. If they had, "Winged Bull" is the kind of song they might have covered or written. It captures that experimental side of Hanoi that I have really missed, for the most part, in Mike and Andy's solo careers.

This EP is a success. Just listening to "People Like Me," you can tell that Andy brings a much-needed melodic and "looser" element to Mike's sound, whereas Mike brings a real attitude and focus to Andy's work. They are much better off together than apart. I can't wait to hear more.

However, to me, this is not Hanoi Rocks, but Michael and Andy with some new bandmates. Don't get me wrong, I support their right to use the Hanoi Rocks name and I'll continue to buy anything they ever record. There's really no question that they have the right to use the name if they feel it helps them, and the new music reflects real creative effort just like the old Hanoi does.

But in terms of the music itself, it sounds much more like a marriage of Building on Tradition and Life Gets You Dirty than anything Hanoi ever did. I see this as less of a continuation of Hanoi Rocks and more as a exciting new collaboration between Mike and Andy. If I thought it sounded (and, more importantly, felt) like Hanoi Rocks, I'd be the first to say it.

Based on what I've heard so far, I would not put this new music in the same category as my favorite Hanoi Rocks songs - so I couldn't call it "like Hanoi, only better." But it's a fuck of a lot better than just about anything else I hear on the radio these days, and as such, it stands tall with any post-Hanoi work the guys have done.

JR

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