PUSH PUSH — A Trillion Shades Of Happy (review)

PUSH PUSH — A Trillion Shades Of Happy album cover

Album · 1992 · Glam Metal

4/5 · 2015-08-30
Vim Fuego

Ignore the dumbass flower power hippie-like title of this album, because Push Push’s ‘A Trillion Shades Of Happy’ is a glam rock album, through and through. It’s not your average glam album though. For a start, all the band members were actually good at what they did, putting musicianship before mascara.

New Zealand’s isolation means trends don’t hit quite so quickly, and the lack of population means trends don’t hit quite so hard as they do in other countries either, so this album is a little less than conventional. There’s quite a psychedelic influence, along with a proto-grunge feel, perhaps rubbing off from New Zealand’s healthy and unique underground alternative scene.

Unfortunately, the album doesn’t get off to a great start. “Beating Up Bullfrogs” is one of the worst opening tracks ever. Any song which starts with the lines “Jeremiah was a bullfrog/But he wasn’t any buddy of mine” is in big fucking trouble. It’s bouncy, dumb bubblegum rock, and would have been better left off the album. Thankfully, second track “What My Baby Likes” rights the wrongs. Underneath the glam stylings, it has a trippy, almost THC vibe. “Dig My World” has a similar vibe, even though the song is very different, where singer Mikey Havoc shows off a great voice, a lot like Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach. And basically, that’s what most of the album sounds like, energetic glam rock with a dash of funk here and a touch of grunge there (drummer Scott Cortese even used to wear Nirvana t-shirts before ‘Nevermind’ was released, and “2EZ2BDED” is dedicated to Andrew Wood).

“Song #27” is a huge power ballad, exploring daydreams and future aspirations, rather than the usual lost love. Havoc wails through the song with surprising power. Guitarists Andy Kane’s solos almost sing like Slash’s, and the main riff is addictive as crack cocaine.

“Trippin’” was a massive hit for Push Push in 1991, knocking the bloody awful re-release of “Unchained Melody” from the movie “Ghost” off number one on the charts, and then stayed there for a couple of months. It’s a big dumb rock anthem, owing as much to The Ramones as it does Motley Crüe. Sure, it’s short on substance, but who cares? It’s a Kiwi version of “Smells Like Team Spirit”.

Like many a young and hopeful band from New Zealand wanting to make it big, Push Push were sucked into the black hole of the Australian rock scene after the release of ‘A Trillion Shades Of Happy’, which proved too difficult, and the band split. Mikey Havoc returned to New Zealand and has since pursued a career as an overweight and occasionally witty TV presenter, a radio personality, and a dance music DJ.

Finishing up where they did, with just three singles and one album, Push Push perhaps died a little young. However, instead of hanging on for too long and ruining a good reputation, Push Push left a beautiful corpse.