Cool Kids

"Cool Kids" is the second studio album by the glam metal band Kix. The standouts among the outside contributions are the title track, which blends new wave verses driven by staccato guitar lines with a hard-rocking, shout-a-long chorus, and "Body Talk," a danceable fusion of hard rock firepower and a synthesizer-layered new wave beat. Pete Solley's slick production manages to bring all this strong material to life by effectively balancing the group's guitar-fueled power with an array of arrangement frills (voice-box guitars, drum machines) that draw attention to the strong pop hooks in each song. The end result is an underrated gem that is begging to be rediscovered by fans of pop-metal.