Cripple Creek Fairies

These Calgarians play like Alice Cooper in their hearts but on record, things come out with too much of an earnest early punk rock edge to play into heavy metal territory or stereotypes. This rules, because the band's unexpected mix of Who riffs and Stooges songwriting makes for an original blast of classic rock'n'roll, punk and metal that doesn't sound anything like other "punk metal" bands. Instead, you get the early Sabbath-infused "Runaround" butting up against the Cheap Trick melody of "Head Down" and the almost Stooges-y "Mars & the Moon." That the vocals avoid any obvious references to these bands' very, very famous singers makes the Cripple Creek Fairies a pretty unusual specimen, one that deserve some plays by any fan of the aforementioned bands.