Sweet “New York Connection”

(www.thesweet.com) Although Andy Scott, guitarist from the classic lineup, is the last glam standing, the new Sweet still sounds Sweet-recognizable. But you will have to have an open mind to dig this collection of New York-themed covers. I’m sure the current Sweet has been accused of being a Sweet cover band, but here they are more like a muscular, slick regular cover band, glamming up “Because the Night,” “Blitzkrieg Bop,” and “Sweet Jane.” But I like it! Hearing a guitar wailing through “On Broadway” is abso-fucking-ridiculous, and in my mind the joy of classic glam was the abso-fucking-ridiculusness of it all -- ugly Slade-sters wearing gay dress up clothes; grown men donning glitter and spandex superhero suits; 50s rock being repurposed for 70s drugs! The fact that their Dead or Alive cover and their Black Keys cover sound more like the Sweet than their Sweet cover (the title track) demonstrates the nuttiness of this album. I’ll be honest, opening with a great cover of “New York Groove,” that veers off the reasonable track by mashing up with that awful Jay-Z/Alicia Keys’ New York song was not to my tastes. But if I want to celebrate absurdity I should celebrate even when it makes my ears hurt. Bottom Line: I like this better than the Metallica covers albums, and these Sweetsers prove themselves still sweet!