Like Alice Cooper, Lizzy Borden is the name of the band and the singer. Dual moniker uses, however, are not the only things that these Los Angeles shock rockers share with Coop. A proclivity for showmanship that veers heavily towards horror movie themes are their most shared traits, plus fake blood by the bucket, a theatrical sneer here and there, and tons of fun.
More importantly, Lizzy Borden has an arsenal of wonderful glam-metal stomp-along tunes. Not as open to mainstream acceptance as Coop's, sure. But still, really freaking good. Also, that's the last Alice Cooper comparison, we promise.
At the Whisky on the evening of Friday, February 23, Borden (the singer) arrived on stage wearing what looked like three faces, sewn together. After a song or two, he was kitted out like a robot skeleton. And the impressive costume changes just kept coming.
Those same costume changes made a song like "Master of Disguise" seem all the more on-the-nose. Meanwhile, "American Metal" is a fist-in-the-air chant, "Love Kills" is a Sunset Strip classic, "We Got the Power" is epic, and Lizzy Borden's cover of the Ramones' "Pet Sematary" is inspired.
They ended with a creepy "Long May They Haunt Us," an appropriate song given the crowd's feelings towards this most influential and never-say-die group.
