Taylor Hawkins And The Coattail Riders: Red Light Fever

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins describes Red Light Fever, his second album with The Coattail Riders, as “sounding like me having sex with my record collection.” His record collection should press charges. More an assault on the spirit of ’70s rock than any kind of loving homage, the disc is an exercise in technique that can’t stop showing off long enough to settle into a decent song. It sags under the weight of too many ideas—none particularly inspired or original—and too little editing, not to mention a burning desire to inject power ballads with Meatloaf-like pomp and would-be anthems with numbing virtuosity. Including a track titled “James Gang” that sounds like a bad, post-grunge inversion of Joe Walsh doesn’t help. Even worse, Fever aggressively pillages Foo Fighters—although that mimicry is hidden among random stabs of overinflated power-pop and Queen-esque über-harmony. Sadly, the presence of guest stars like Dave Grohl, The Cars’ Elliot Easton, and Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor means this whole mess must have been somewhat consensual. Maybe they should all be tested for roofies.