Joe Leste revives Bang Tango, despite being in one of the coolest bands for decades in Beautiful Creatures. I'm often confused when bands like this re-emerge after never really impressing in the first place, and then end up sounding a little like the bands the members went on to play in. Now, I was never a big Bang Tango fan, but 'From The Hip' is a real rocker of an album, but I have one major problem with this. Alot of it sounds like a watered down version of Beautiful Creatures. Joe Leste's vocals have certainly got stronger with his current band and on opener 'Its All Ok' you'd swear you were listening to BC all over again, even with that gargantuan riff. However, the band soon revert to that '80s sleaze metal sound which didn't get them very far. 'Go, Go, Go' is a poor man's Faster Pussycat with an AC/DC riff, 'Mother Mary' actually roars with its guitar groove and Joe's vicious vocals which when he warbles reminds me of a hungry Ian Astbury of The Cult, but the riff certainly saves the day here. Again though, as soon as Bang Tango add extra beef to the track, and I'm constantly reminded of a lightweight BC. 'Get Used To It' shakes again like The Cult with a rougher vocal and 'Simple' is a leather strut.
Probably Bang Tango's best album, although far too late and irrelevant when we again consider what else has come. Beautiful Creatures are a truly magnificent band, and I hope hope Joe doesn't decide to aid his Bang Tango buddies instead of kicking out the jams with BC. And as 'Angel Devil' drifts like some cliched '80s porch-perching ballad, I think back to the brilliance of Love/Hate and the likes, and wonder where Bang Tango fit into all of this.
6/10
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