Steve Conte – Bronx Cheer – Transparent Yellow and Orange Vinyl, LP, Wicked Cool Records, 2021
New York City guitarist, singer and songwriter Steve Conte has found the way back to center stage with his first solo album in five years, the attitude-infused Bronx Cheer. The Wicked Cool Records release is brimming with the spirit of New York both past and present. “I remember the danger, dirty streets, the garbage strike, sleazy 42nd Street,” Conte recalls of his first visits to the city as a kid in the 1970s. “When I moved here in the mid-1980s it was not all that different – but it’s very different now. Yet somehow, I still love it – and hate it. To me that’s what the Blues and Punk Rock have in common – complaining!” Long known for his memorable guitar work as a member of New York Dolls, as well as former Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe’s band (with whom he still performs), Steve found international fame in recent years via his collaborations with Japanese composer and artist Yoko Kanno on the soundtracks to several hit anime series, including Cowboy Bebop.
