Defying the odds once again, seventies veterans the Hollywood Stars return with their second album in a very late career comeback. As with 2024’s Starstruck, the L.A. quintet doesn’t bother with incorporating trendy production tricks or even modern influences into their glam-frosted, hard rocking power pop. The band just writes catchy tunes and records them with the energy of teenage would-be rock stars, even though those years are long behind them. After getting the party started with the garage-rocking title track, the Stars turbocharge their melodic boogie, blasting through tuneful confections like the singalong “Will the Lights Go Out Again,” the celebratory “27” (which takes aim at the myth of rockers always dying at 27), and the roaring “The Bottom” like men confident they can still take on the world. “This Moment” and “When I Find You” casually make the case that the band can play ballads while still being real rockers, and a respectably take on their classic “King of the Night Time World” proves they’ve still got the fire. There’s no need for this band to sound “contemporary” when their sound crosses boundaries and generations even in 2026. “You can’t fix me, ‘cuz I’m not broken!” vocalist Scott Phares insists on “I’m Not Broken,” and the evidence of that assertion is everywhere on Hey! L.A.!
