POP REVIEW : Horsemen Trot Into the Whisky

The Sunset Strip is lousy with pretty rock bands--most of them pretty lousy. So what a relative pleasure to see the Four Horsemen at the Whisky on Tuesday. The Los Angeles-based group is the antithesis of, if not the antidote for, the standard Strip bands: Neither the Four Horsemen nor its rock is particularly pretty. (Apparently the five-member group can’t count either, unless the numerical name refers to the straight 4/4 rock ‘n’ roll beat that is its metrical metier.)

The Horsemen are part of producer Rick Rubin’s stable of ‘70s-vintage boogie-rockers, and--virtually by definition--not the least bit original or innovative. As far as lyrical content, well, suffice it to say that Tuesday’s set started with “Let It Rock” and ended with “Rockin’ Is Ma’ Business.”

The effect was a lot like being stuck between a bill of AC/DC and Humble Pie. For variety, the Horsemen threw in a few touches of ‘70s Southern rock mixed with post-punk rock a la Social Distortion, something like a heavier Marshall Tucker Band. The only full acknowledgment that this is the ‘90s was that singer Frank Starr swigged from a bottle of Evian instead of Jim Beam.

At least the group seems to come by its style naturally and presents it with honest conviction, and so the music qualifies as something of a guilty pleasure. In fact, if the band could come up with just one original twist or two to its four-square approach, it could even be taken guilt-free.

* The Four Horsemen also play Friday at the Marquee, 7000 Garden Grove Blvd., Westminster, (714) 891-1181, at 8 p.m.