POP MUSIC REVIEW : ATTACK STUCK IN A ‘70S HARD-ROCK TIME WARP

Way, way back in the darkest days of the local rock scene--around 1975 or so--Attack, then known as the Dogs, was among the bare handful of hard-rock bands that dared to play anything even remotely resembling original material.

Along with the Pop and the original lineup of the Motels, Attack pioneered the concept of creating alternative rooms to the few existing rock clubs. For this alone, every L.A. band that’s been signed over the last 10 years should be required to donate a percentage of its royalties to the founding members, guitarist Loren Molinare and bassist Mary Kay.

Unfortunately, idealism and tenacity alone don’t persuade record companies to open their checkbooks, and catching Attack’s performance Wednesday at the Music Machine in West Los Angeles was like stepping into a time warp. The former Detroiters remain true to their pure rock vision, all right, but their flat-head MC5/Stones sound hasn’t changed a whit. Nor has the power trio’s inability to create anything more than what can charitably be described as generic rock songs.

While unpretentious, cohesive and fairly energetic--considering there were fewer than 50 people in the place--Attack is neither glamorous enough for the heavy-metal kids down at the Troubador, nor fashionable enough to be this week’s hippest thing among the Hollywood scene that, ironically, it helped create.

Maybe if they can just hang in another 10 years. . . .