London LeGrand – vocals Nikki Sixx – bass Tracii Guns – guitar Scot Coogan – drums
Brides of Destruction bandmates Nikki Sixx and Tracii Guns knew London LeGrand could sing. The twentysomething vocalist proved he had chops and style during an audition in which he nailed covers of Motley Crue’s “Live Wire” and Sweet’s “No You Don’t.” The question, however, was whether the newbie could pull it off live. To make sure, Sixx booked a gig opening for Mudvayne and Taproot to see how he’d handle a rowdy metal crowd.
LeGrand struts his stuff on Here Come the Brides (Sanctuary Records), a gloriously gritty album of sneering, hook-filled gutter pop delivered with fuck-you swagger. Drawing as much from Sabbath and the Sex Pistols as from Cheap Trick and early Kiss, the Brides’ addictive debut is raw, dark, sexy, melodic and utterly electrifying. Produced by Stevo Bruno and mixed by Steve Thompson (Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Korn), the album breaks from the gate with lead single “Shut The Fuck Up,” an unnervingly intense musical middle finger thrust at double-talking politicos. The Brides take off from there, slamming out songs of seduction (“I Don’t Care”), mortality (“Brace Yourself”) and rage (“I Got A Gun”). Among the album’s many highlights are the Queen-like harmonies of “Life” (with drummer Scot Coogan on lead vocals), the raunchy blues of “Natural Born Killers” and the heart-melting “Only Get So Far,” which Sixx originally penned for Grammy-winning country couple Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.
“We’re not trying to fit into any current scene,” says Guns. “The goal was to write great timeless rock songs and we accomplished that. We’ve created a sound with a ring all its own. People are gonna freak when they hear it.”