Full disclosure: it’s been a while since I followed the exploits of Chip Z’Nuff and his band Enuff Z’Nuff.
It isn’t that I was disappointed in anything that the band was doing; I simply got sidetracked by so many other things. Meanwhile, Z’Nuff kept putting out additional albums and changing band members on a fairly regular basis, to the point that when Donnie Vie exited the band, Z’Nuff ended up taking over the lead vocal chair as well as his normal bass duties.
Xtra Cherries, the latest effort from Enuff Z’Nuff, shows one thing crystal clear: it doesn’t necessarily matter who is in the band, the overall goal and sound have remained the same since they burst onto the scene over 30 years ago.
The one thing about this disc that, honestly, gives me the chills is that Z’Nuff resurrects some long-deceased band members and features musical contributions from them. Guitarist Derek Frigo (who passed away in 2004) has his six-string work featured on “You Make Me Wanna Lie,” while drummer Ricky Parent (who succumbed to cancer in 2007) is on “Shine.” What could have been creepy actually turns out to serve as a fitting tribute to all members of Enuff Z’Nuff, past and present, “Shine” being a particularly powerful example. (The inclusion of Vie on keyboards—as well as vocalist Robert Fleischman and guitarist Neil Schon of Journey doesn’t hurt, either.)
With no disrespect meant to Vie, listening to Xtra Cherries makes one wonder whether Z’Nuff could have actually handled vocals all along for the band. Tracks like “Heavy Metal,” “Sanibel Island (It’s Outta Control)” and “Back To The Wall” all are powerful showcases for Z’Nuff’s voice. Only the opening track “Heartbeat” stumbles in that regard, but Z’Nuff quickly regains his vocal footing.
In fact, the stumbles on Xtra Cherries are precious few. Other than the opening track, their cover of the Rolling Stones’s “Star Star” (complete with a guest appearance on slide guitar by Gunnar Nelson) just doesn’t seem to fit the hippy drippy style that Enuff Z’Nuff had become known for. Hearing the non-stop chant of “starfucker,” quite honestly, doesn’t gel well—and I am by no means a prude when it comes to language.
Other than the aforementioned tracks, Xtra Cherries is the kind of album that makes the listener sit up, listen closely, and wonder just why the hell they hadn’t been following Enuff Z’Nuff closer over the past several years. It perfectly describes what I felt, and makes me want to go back and check out the eight albums I’ve apparently overlooked since 2000’s 10.
To simply write Enuff Z’Nuff off as a simple hair band or a relic from the late ’80s/early ’90s is to do a disservice to not only the band but to yourself as well. Xtra Cherries showcases the fact that this is a band that has fostered a light-pop sensibility to their music while paying no small debt to the Beatles in their work. It is, simply, proof that this is a band that demands to be taken seriously—and deserves to be. Check it out and discover it for yourself.