When a band chooses the cold sneers of the Motor City over the fake smiles of the Gold Coast, that tells you something about the group's mentality.

The Starlite Desperation made that move to Detroit, the place where its juiced-up blues sound was born. This is the group's first release on Flapping Jet Records and the first from its new hometown.

The trio pounds out nine slabs of blues riffs and backbeats that run together for 40 minutes of attempted rock 'n' roll resurrection. The band comes close a few times with songs such as "Mona Lisa Shake, which will take you back to 1970, the song and the year, with its sax solo, and the title track, an eight-minute blues jam without any real solos.

Comparisons are easy to make (New York Dolls, The Make Up, The Stooges), but don't expect that name-dropping will make Starlite Desperation give up. These guys want to rock and don't care about Spin Reader's Choice Awards. I mean, did you think they moved to Detroit for the weather?

If anything, maybe a few more years there will change singer Dante Adrian's voice from notes to growls, as it is too nice to sing "Let it Burn" and mean it.

- Drew Avery