Kick Axe's Vices (Pasha Records)-64.
Scoring-Sassy, irreverent name (8 points), but only mildly provocative album title (5). The album cover-a surreal vision of a man's head in the form of a vise-is dangerously close to being too "arty" for this genre, but clever enough to generate attention (18).
The song titles-"Heavy Metal Shuffle," "Maneater," "Alive & Kickin'"-are on the tame side (9), but the two guitarists crank it out and there's more of a sense of melody than with most heavy-metal groups (19).
Intangible: These guys are from the town that also produced such faves as Van Halen, Quiet Riot, Motley Crue and Ratt. Heavy-metal loves L.A. (5).
