I have not gotten around to doing one of these in a while so I'll try to get back on track. Today I am pairing two bands that are slightly different in style. Both hard rock, but Rough Cutt's debut came out in 1985 and it was typical for that time while Funhouse came out in 1990 and it was maybe just a little broader in style. Rough Cutt were on Warner Brothers, they were managed by Wendy Dio and they were at leas initially promoted fairly well. Funhouse were Caroline and came out at a time when the hard rock bands were popping out of every hole and into a crowded scene. The bands have two things in common. One is neither band was all that good and therefor number two is they both end up on the chopping block for Lesser of two evils. Let's rip into them and see which one is better or not as bad.


Funhouse-Generation Generator (1990)

vs.


Rough Cutt-s/t (1985)

Vocalist
We have Paul Shortinio of Rough Cutt going against Chris Hazard of Funhouse. It's actually surprising that I have been doing this segment for three years and just now got around to including Rough Cutt. Surpising because they are not that good of a band and I knew that, but I kept brushing it off in large part to the fact that Paul Shortino is a good singer and for a little while he hides the shortcoming of the rest of the band. He has a strong voice, but he can't pull off all of these songs though and eventually you can tell that he is just going through the motions trying to glide to the end of the tracks. Chris Hazard was obviously listening to Guns and Roses, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Bang Tango as he prepared for theses recordings. Somehow I imagine him in the studio swinging his arms and trying to act animated as he recorded his vocal tracks and saying something like " I am getting my groove on". Maybe not, but the results are okay. He overdoes it some, but not too much and he knows when to move on. Still ...
Point to Rough Cutt

Guitarist
Amir Derakh and Chris Hager are on for Rough Cutt. Amir Derakh gets credit for his name, but loses points for being listed a doing synthesizers along with lead guitars. Anyways the Rough Cutt duo have a huge sound around the guitars. Unfortunately they rely more on volume and production values than on style and there is enough here to suggest it wasn't because of lack of talent. They just held back and settled for repetition far more than they should have. For Funhouse it's Marc Vachon and Joe E. What these guys lack in originality they attempt to make up for with a raw tone. They don't succeed because thy are lacking quite a in the way of hooks, but they try and I give them a little credit for that. Neither pair does nearly enough to help their band's cause. Still I have to pick so...
Point to Rough Cutt

Rhythm section
For Rough Cutt it's bassist Matt Thorr and drummer David Alford. Wait, there was bass on this album? I think it got swept up in the load and ultra-smooth production which of couse was on par for many major label hard rock releases of the time. David Alford is adequate, but again I don't like the finished so much. It's glossy with very little feeling or personality. Funhouse has bassist Cat and drummer Johnny Hill. Cat? Well if Rough Cutt's bassist can add an extra "r" onto the name of a Norse God then I guess Funhouse's bassist can be named after a feline. Bass? Oh, I think I did hear a few notes. The drums are ordinary however the production doesn't suck the life out of it as much as on the Rough Cutt album. So...
Point to Funhouse

Originality/production
Rough Cutt fall in maybe the Dokken/King Kobrar melodic metal/hard rock style. The problem is they never push hard enough to establish much of their own style. Many of their songs start out fine for the first 10-15 second and they throw it into neutral and try to wade through completely forgetable mcuk for the rest of the time. As noted all too many times above the production on this album is way too slick and cold. Funhouse sound like the results of someone taking popular bands of the moment and throwing them in a blender and pouring them out. Unfortunately it's a bit lumpy and bland. The production is better and actually helps their sound a little.
Point to Funhouse

Who rocks more?
I guess I have painted myself into a corner as Funhouse have come back to tie this thing up so now I actually have to think about who rocks more. Even worse I had to listen to these albums again to make a decision because it really was that close. Not because either excelling, but rather because both succeeded in being fairly unmemorable. Each band has about 2-3 songs where they sort of pull together a few moments, but ultimately it was the fact that Rough Cutt put together a few tightly played passages that effected my decision.
Game, set and match to Rough Cutt for getting the final point

Perhaps Rough Cutt deserve points taken off for the limp album cover and the use of an extra "T". However Funhouse deserve points taken off for members wearing pajamas on the cover, doing live tracks on their album that are poorly overdubbed and most importantly not putting band member names in the booklet and forcing me to look up their sorry names so I can be thorough in my write-up. It all adds up to Rough Cutt limping past Funhouse in another Lesser of two evils that gave me a mild headache as I struggled through these two recordings. Maybe I should see if Tylenol will sponsor this segment for me because I always seem to have to use the product after I write one of these. Anyways I'll be back with another one very soon.