(King Outlaw)

http://www.justanenglishoutlaw.com

In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, British ne'er-do-wells the Dogs D'amour had a chaotic, sloppy, brilliant run of dirty rock & roll fueled in equal parts by excessive substance use and even more excessive wistful romanticism. The quartet scored a few minor hits in the U.K. and raised a ruckus with likeminded souls Nikki Sudden and Hanoi Rocks before dissolving in a cloud of rancor, broken guitar strings and glitter in the gutter. While the band launched with the little-heard The State We're In (originally released in 1984 only in Finland), the Dogs really took off with their second LP, 1988's raucous In the Dynamite Jet Saloon, still considered by many to be the group's zenith.

Claiming a need to celebrate the album's initial release, Dogs leader Tyla decided to re-record Saloon, soliciting fan contributions to pay for production while involving none of his former bandmates (unsurprising, given the general acrimony) and revising the tracklist considerably. Thus was born In the Dynamite Jet Saloon MMX, released under the Dogs' name (with a helpful "Tyla Presents" on the cover). Tyla remains mostly faithful to the original arrangements, keeping the essential Stonesy glampunk spirit of "Last Bandit," "Billy Two Rivers" and "I Don't Want You to Go" intact. Tyla's gruff singing has become more mannered in recent years, with a few more "yeahs" than absolutely necessary, especially on the ballad "How Come It Never Rains" (probably the finest song he's ever written). Less-celebrated cuts like "Sometimes" "How Do You Fall in Love Again" and "Wait Until I'm Dead" fare better, perhaps because remakes carry fewer expectations and Tyla needs not try so hard. Cognoscenti may (rightly) complain about the elimination of "Debauchery," "Gonna Get It Right," "Heartbreak" and fan favorite "The Kid From Kensington," but Tyla softens the blow by including remakes of cuts from the long out-of-print The ‘Unauthorized Bootleg' Album, including "Swingin' the Bottle," "Dynamite Jet Saloon" and the near-hit "Heroine."

Original picker Jo Dog's filthy slide work is missed, though Tyla and co-guitarist Lezard manage to kick up a six-string fuss. But what's really absent here is the original band's youthful energy. While recent Tyla solo records like Bloody Hell Fire and In Life, In Love, In Dreams reveal maturity working to his advantage, it's almost a hindrance here, as the remakes lack the originals' devil-take-the-hindmost spirit. The tunes themselves hold up just fine, making it fortunately difficult for Tyla to make MMX a bad record. But the celebratory spirit in which this production is meant doesn't match the go-for-broke-because-what-the-hell-why-not attitude of the original LP. But until some music industry bean-counter decides to greenlight a comprehensive reissue campaign of the Dogs' out-of-print records (i.e. all of them) In the Dynamite Jet Saloon MMX will be the only version of this classic album available. And as the last Saloon standing, it will have to suffice.

DOWNLOAD: "Sometimes," "State I'm In," "Dynamite Jet Saloon" MICHAEL TOLAND