Cleveland Taco Week returns on Monday, April 10th!

The It*Men

Greatest Its (Davenport)

By Ben Vendetta on Wed, Nov 3, 2004 at 4:00 am

Helmet Grog Shop, 2785 Euclid Heights Boulevard, Cleveland Heights 9 p.m. Tuesday, November 9, $14, 216-321-5588

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Cleveland's the It*Men are the perfect bridge between the frat-rock insanity of early '60s legends the Sonics, the Kingsmen, and the Wailers, and the bombastic melodrama of the MC5, Blue Cheer, and Black Sabbath. The band's debut is like a soundtrack of a more innocent time, when listening under the covers to Alice Cooper or Kiss on the radio was enough to piss off your parents.

Song titles like "Doing Drugs for You," "Death Machine," and "Altamonster" should be enough to clue you in to the It*Men manifesto. Vocalist Ken "Action" Janssen is fueled by frustration, lust, and gallons of PBR. While nothing can quite capture Janssen's infamous live antics, Greatest Its comes pretty close, thanks to backing from some of the best musicians in town: lead guitarist Matt Cassidy of New Planet Trampoline and Ben Gmetro (rhythm guitar), Dave Molnar (bass), and Charlie Druesdow (drums), who perform double duty in the Dreadful Yawns and New Planet Trampoline.