Black Beauty by Beretta76

But throw in sex, beauty queens, one hour stands, attitude-y princesses, more sex, old rock scribes throwing dismal dinner parties, and even more sex (there's a woman wrapped in a cobra on the cover for a reason, hoss); make it blunt, unprissy, immediate, pissed off, melodic and raw-rocking without lacking in precision; toss in the punch of power pop and the cutting clarion foxiness of singer and guitarist Camille Escobedo... it's a brutal Beauty you got in your hands. It's a record that hones their acerbic agit-power-pop into something that's sleek, tender, taut and tough without ever embracing rock from a feminist aspect.

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Beretta76

Black Beauty

***1/2

"Once you hear the way Camille Escobedo screams "Oh, yeah!" on Black Beauty's opening title track, you know this is going to be good. The 10 bracing, catchy tracks on this Philadelphia band's self-released debut pack plenty of power-chord crunch, and the quartet doesn't let its skepticism about the "Hit Parade" talk it out of constructing song after song full of catchy hooks. Escobedo has got her Joan Jett-Suzi Quatro snarl down cold, and Black Beauty teems with the unpretentious energy of a not-too-polished garage band ready to take on the world."

- Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

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"Though you can trace their hard and hooky songs to institutions like the Pretenders, Cheap Trick and the Ramones, Philly's Beretta76 sounds totally unconcerned with what's cool, what's hip, or what will get bespectacled bloggers all atwitter. Having kicked around locally for a few years, the band is still anchored in South Philadelphia while other indie rockers have hightailed it to the northern neighborhoods. The brand-new Black Beauty sounds like what you'd hear blasting from a suspicious van idling outside Goretti. Only fitting, since the cover - a pulp erotica image of a python wrapped around a scantily clad damsel - looks like something that would be airbrushed on such a van. Black Beauty is an amped-up affair where singer Camille Escobedo's talons-drawn tenor pierces the pop-minded skin of guitarist Pete Rydberg's carefully constructed tunes. It's a winning mix of blood and sugar." -- Patrick Berkery, Philadelphia Inquirer

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"If you're seeing Joan Jett this week, you might want to check out one of her rightful heirs, Beretta76 frontwoman Camille Escobedo. She and guitarist/songwriter/head of 1935 Studios Pete Rydberg started the Philly band in 2002, winning a Jane Magazine demo contest soon after. "Black Beauty," Beretta76's new, full-length debut, provides what all good rock records should: party songs, revenge songs, and songs that are a little of both. "Beauty's" part punk and power pop, with bits of Cheap Trick, the Muffs and even Wreckless Eric." -- Sara Sherr, Philadelphia Daily News

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"Alongside pals Mondo Topless and Jukebox Zeros, Beretta76 form an impressive phalanx of Philly garage rock, though they're not on everyone's radar. Frontwoman Camille Escobedo's fun snarl fits the band's crunchy sound, which should bowl over fans of Magnapop and Visqueen... Recorded at 1935--the studio co-run by Beretta axman Pete Rydberg--the tunes wed racy riffs with smoldering atmosphere. The power ballad "Pretty Baby" even recalls Cyndi Lauper circa She's So Unusual, right down to the dramatic echoes and bittersweet center." -- Doug Wallen, Philadelphia Weekly

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