POP MUSIC REVIEW : Saigon Kick: Tumble at the Roxy

Even before it played a note at the Roxy on Wednesday, the Miami hard-rock band Saigon Kick had it all: a random yet seemingly violent moniker, half the rock ‘n’ roll weasels in Hollywood holding court in the lobby, a gong mounted behind the drum set. All that was missing was a singer with a real high voice and a weedle-a-weedle-a guy on guitar, and of course those things weren’t missing for long.

Saigon Kick, which came into the gig with something of an arty reputation, has its own small twist on the standard post-Guns N’ Roses hard-rock thing, churning white noise, Testament-style riffing overlaid with full-fledged melodies, vocal hooks, “Sgt. Peppery” ripe harmonies.

It was only a matter of time before somebody took the pop-thrash sound of, say, Suicidal Tendencies and married it with a mainstream, radio-driven sensibility. And it wasn’t that impressive. Saigon Kick is capable of banalities as profound as Starship’s.

Singer Matt Kramer was as hammy as anyone this side of Ronnie James Dio--the most impressive thing he did all night was a perfectly executed somersault into the audience, and he did that several times. After a while, all you could do was shrug and wait for the drum solo.