Since 1972

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Josh Freese likely called his second album Since 1972 because he's been on the earth since that year, but it's also true that the music on this 2009 LP celebrates the big, crunching glam rock that's been in place Since 1972. This is nothing but trashy good times, all fuzzy guitars, gigantic hooks and big backbeats, a record where a long song clocks in at three minutes and 30 seconds. Freese is self-aware as any good studio session musician should be — he makes allusions to lots of his favorite music, whether it's quoting Replacements lyrics or referencing '70s hard rock — but Since 1972 is neither a superstar jam session or the mannerly, tidy work of a pro musician. It's messy, noisy, and goofy, a cheerful dive into bad taste and good times. All of this suggests that Since 1972 might be a sleazy hard rock album, the kind that Guns N' Roses did before Freese sat in as a drummer for the Chinese Democracy sessions, but that glam instinct on Since 1972 overrides everything else, placing the emphasis on melodies whether they're in the vocals or the riffs. This makes for a record that's giddy, silly, and, at its best, downright addictive.