Break the Silence

Album Review

Shooting to be the Runaways of the new millennium, McQueen is a British all-female hard rock outfit with heavy pop-punk overtones. Lead singer Leah Duors is more Pat Benatar than Lita Ford, but that's no bad thing: in the long run, decent technique tends to trump attitude-over-ability, and Duors' no-nonsense attack on songs like "Bitch" and the defiant femme-rocker anthem "Not for Sale" ("Stop talking to my chest!") is the band's most appealing aspect. Because frankly, other than Duors' sharp lyrics and aggressive delivery, Break the Silence is entirely competent but just average mainstream hard rock, melodic and tuneful with just enough metal to keep the thrashers happy and just enough hooks to appeal to everyone else. Exemplified by the catchy but forgettable first single "Running out of Things to Say," McQueen's brand of hard-candy rock will appeal primarily to folks who miss the early-'80s Sunset Strip scene and those kids buying Lita Ford and Joan Jett solo albums out of the used bins.