Review
Rob Moss and Skin-Tight Skin
Records

Rob Moss was a member of one of my favourite D.C early hardcore bands, Government Issue as well as Artificial Peace. While Rob officially joined Government Issue in 1983 and played on their US tour, one could say he was a GI since the band began. Rob not only sang backup vocals on the Legless Bull E.P., he made that big “mooo” at the beginning of "Cowboy Fashion."

Rob hung up his thudding bass for many years but he's back into the saddle, releasing new material and thank God for that! In 2020, after a nearly 40-year hiatus from making music, Rob released his album, the aptly named, We’ve Come Back To Rock and Roll. His follow-up album, Now With More Rockets, came out in 2022, which continued Rob's rock and glam songwriting skills. Flash forward to 2024 with a glam, wham, thank you ma’am, Rob's new release, Records, further cements his journey on the cobble-stoned pathway of the music business. Rob is no stranger to danger in enlisting top-quality musicians to back up his well-crafted songs.

On Records, you'll hear lead guitarists Anthony Piazza (Sister Ex, Winter Sect), Arthur Alexander (The Poppees, Sorrows), Charles Hansen (Justine and The Unclean), Clive Wright (Broken English, Cock Robin), Curt Florczak (BadTerms, Hammered Saint), Dan Kopko (WATTS, The Shang Hi Los), Paul Armstrong (The Flashcubes, 1.4.5), Pedro Sjosted (Muck and the Mires), Randy Klawon (The Choir, Cyrus Erie), Robbi Robb (Asylum Kids, Tribe After Tribe), and Tony Reed (Mos Generator).

Danny Frankel is the drummer on both Records and Now With More Rockets. Danny Franklel, if you're unaware, was Lou Reed's drummer and the drummer in the Urban Verbs. Danny has also worked with John Cale, Nels Cline, Laurie Anderson, Marianne Faithful and Beck. Now if that doesn’t make you salivate, I'm not sure what will.

Rob's early love of Glam shines through the crack under the door and as that door swings open, you are bathed in Chuck Berry riffs avec Steve Jones-style, while swaddling you with mid-period Iggy Pop. Taking that love he expertly synthesizes the thigh-high platform boot stompin' output and creates his own twist on some unadulterated I.V. Rock and Roll to slow drip-pump you full of well-crafted, structured rock and roll hymns.

Shaking the foundations and keeping the Rock and Roll/Glam flag flying high, Rob is a true erudite on his continued musical journey. I look forward to Rob Moss’s future releases. Rob Moss and Skin Tight prove that good rock and roll still exists; you might just have to dig for it!