Misty-eyed finality permeates Clowns Lounge, a record pieced together by the current line-up of Enuff Z’Nuff after Derek Schulman, their former boss at Atco Records, reminded the Chicagoans of an existing treasure trove of archive material from the late 1980s.
Given that some of its selections feature Derek Frigo, the guitarist who died in 2004, and with bassist Chip Z’Nuff having assumed the role of lead singer following Donnie Vie’s exit three years ago, it represents a last will and testament of the band’s best-known line-up. Cameos from the late, great Warrant singer Jani Lane and Styx guitarist James ‘JY’ Young (thankfully, still with us) should only serve to pique the interest of any Z’Nuff-ite worth their purple mirrored shades.
Despite a smattering of leaden, bog-standard moments its tunes are heady enough to remind us why these psychedelic-obsessed pop-rockers were so well regarded during those halcyon days.
