STEVE CONTE is best known these days for filling the JOHNNY THUNDERS slot in the reconstituted NEW YORK DOLLS, but he has a musical resume stretching back nearly two decades, including stints with artists as diverse as WILLIE DEVILLE, BILLY SQUIER, MACEO PARKER, PAUL SIMON, WILLIE NILE and Japanese composer YOKO KANNO, not to mention the bands COMPANY OF WOLVES, CROWN JEWELS and the CONTES. Now Conte is running his own flag up the pole, backed by a rhythm section called the CRAZY TRUTH. If he has a big influence amongst his former employers, it’s likely Nile. Conte shares the same penchant for stripped-down arrangements, big hooks and smart, but not wordy, lyrics, though the swagger with which he plays could only be derived from the Dolls or his hair-metal past. With his husky voice as up front as his roots/glam/blues/pop riffs, Conte sounds like a man finally allowed to show his stuff, which he does to strong effect on “Gypsy Cab,” “Busload of Hope” and “The Truth Ain’t Pretty.” It seems like there aren’t many folks making this kind of racket anymore; that Conte is doing it and doing it well should warm the cockles of many a rock & roll heart.
http://www.steveconteandthecrazytruth.com
http://www.varesevintage.com
