New Metal

This just in: 80s hair metal has risen from the grave and been given a modern makeover. Simply replace the swaggering, cheesy lead singer with nineteen-year-old guitar-playing punk chick Noelle Leblanc, and the result is Out Here All Night by Boston band Damone.Like their namesake from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” Damone are always looking for fun. Lead guitarist Mike Woods, drummer Dustin Hengst, and bassist known only by the surname of Vazquez pump out bodacious instrumentation that surprisingly compliments Noelle’s sweet-with-an-edge vocals. Songs such as the energetic title track and “Out of My Way” provide the perfect party cruising summer soundtrack complete with brilliant air guitar opportunities.

Naturally, an album like Out Here All Night contains several power ballads, most notably “Stabbed in the Heart” and “On Your Speakers.” Though musically in the same vein, the majority of Damone’s lyrics are considerably more delicate than their influences and focus more on romance rather than lust. “When You Live,” a thoughtful track that showcases Noelle’s range of styles, solemnly advises that “when you live, live with your soul / not with your time / when you love, love with your heart / not with your mind.” Providing the penultimate ending to an already satisfying CD is an orchestrated half-tempo cover of Iron Maiden’s “Wasted Years” that even hardcore fans wouldn’t be ashamed to admit liking.

Thanks to Damone,’80s metalheads yearning for a taste of the glory days and their daughters can finally agree upon the same music. Out Here All Night proves that girls like Noelle can rock just as well as any Axel but without the diva complex.