Report: Everything's Heavy About '80s Hair-Band Tribute METAL SKOOL

Michael Tunison of iF Magazine reports: Big-haired '80s glam-metal may have gone out with cassette tapes, headbands and MTV playing actual music videos, but it seems somebody forgot to tell METAL SKOOL, who performs tomorrow tonight at iF Magazine's relaunch party in Hollywood .

The teased-tressed quartet is happily trapped in a time warp where MÖTLEY CRÜE, POISON and WHITESNAKE still top the charts and every night's the night to party like it's 1986. Their long-running tribute show on L.A.'s Sunset Strip — equal parts self-mocking comedy and authentic rocking-out — has made them champions of the local metal scene, while years of relentless touring and savvy self-marketing have built a cult following across the Web.

About the only thing you're unlikely to ever see at a METAL SKOOL show is the band taking itself too seriously.

"Heavy metal's about catching a buzz, meeting a girl and having a great time," explains singer Michael Starr. "This is not about being serious and looking at your shoes and being bummed out and exploring your feelings. It's about having a party."

How SPINAL TAP-ishly spoofy is METAL SKOOL's act? In the video for their original tune "Fat Girl", Starr details his plus-sized lust for a gargantuan groupie. Guitarist "Satchel" licks his ax while shredding. Drummer Stix Zadinia (if you didn't catch that one the first time through, say it aloud quickly) does a roll on top of a car, then drops his sticks. And the boys pucker their glossed lips and blow bassist Lexxi Foxxx's bountiful brown locks to add to the effect of a wind machine.

Earnest, heartfelt art-rock this ain't. Still, it takes real chops to knock out note-perfect covers of BON JOVI, GUNS N' ROSES and WARRANT night after night — something METAL SKOOL has been doing an average of three or four times a week for the past eight years.

"Self-deprecation is always endearing, I believe, but you have to be able to back up your cocky attitude by playing the music the way it sounds on the record — and that's something we've always prided ourselves on doing," says Starr. "We're serious about what we do, but we have a good time doing it."

Read the entire article at www.ifmagazine.com.