We’ve all heard some pretty rubbish band names in our time, and Crazy Lixx might be among them.
“The name Crazy Lixx sounded very cool to me at eighteen years old,” says frontman Danny Rexon, “but if I saw it today I might think: ‘Okay, they’re a glam-rock band. Probably they don’t play so good. They’re mostly about attitude.’ So you do have a point. Had we called ourselves something different, maybe things might have turned out better, or maybe not. But it’s certainly a name you’ll remember.”
Right from the start, Crazy Lixx expected to be swimming against the tide.
“The music we wanted to play back in 2002 was desperately unfashionable; it was far from certain there would be an audience at all,” admits Rexon, whose parents remind him that at kindergarten his three favourite songs were Crazy Nights by Kiss, Europe’s The Final Countdown and Whitesnake’s Still Of The Night.
Although early independent releases saw the group lumped in with the sleazy glam-metal of fellow Swedes Crashdïet and Hardcore Superstar, those childhood influences drip-fed a gradual progression to the super-hummable hard rock that Crazy Lixx play today.
“Some people consider ‘hair-metal’ a derogatory term, but I think it fits Crazy Lixx quite well,” Rexon says.
Crazy Lixx have won some great reviews over the past five or six years. And if life was fair they’d be much better known by now. “
Of course I would like a bigger following, but we picked a genre that was quite small, and there have certainly been problems finding a younger audience,” says Rexon. “Rock in general is no longer a part of the mainstream of music.”
It’s this sentiment that inspires Anthem For America, the first single from the seventh Crazy Lixx album, Street Lethal. A press release describes the anthem as “a call to action for the youth of the US, who seem to have lost touch with rock music”.
But why be specific to America? Isn’t rock being devalued everywhere?
“You’re right, it is happening globally. But the States used to be so innovative when it came to rock music and sticking it to the man, and now that’s disappeared,” Rexon offers. “When I grew up, America was a role model. It gave us comics, and so many wonderful bands. Now other countries are taking over.”
With its use of stars and stripes banners, cheerleaders and choreographed head-banging, the clip for Anthem For America is big, brash and colourful. Are Crazy Lixx looking to bring back some entertainment to rock’n’roll?
“I’m sure I’m not the only person who doesn’t want to grow up,” Rexon replies. “Rock music is meant to be rebellious and fun.”
Street Lethal is available now via Frontiers Records.
