Reviewed by Ian Gifford.
Every single city around Canada has people/bands that you can consider “Canadian Rock Royalty”. Sarnia has MaxWebster/Kim Mitchell, Hamilton has Tom Wilson/Junkhouse and Teenage Head, Toronto has RUSH/Rheostatics/Triumph, Vancouver has Bryan Adams/54-40/Bif Naked, and London has Demics, Helix and 63 Monroe! As mentioned in previous reviews, I am a local sound engineer, so I have gotten to work with just about every local musician at some point, and the one artist that has always left me awestruck was Scott Bentley, aka “Steven R Stunning” of ’63 Monroe.
Mr. Bentley was the former manager and/or owner of three great London Venues, Key West, Big Bobs and the Electric Banana (the latter being where I got to see Seattle band “Hole” and meet Courtney Love et al) and he was also the creator of the “What’s the Poop Awards” which at best was a tongue in cheek look at the “best” London had to offer in entertainment. Every time I worked with ’63 Monroe, I was impressed by Steve Stunning’s towering presence, sometimes partially dressed in drag; they were the reigning kings (queens?) of Glam Punk, born of the 70s with one foot always firmly planted there.
(Pictured: Scott Bentley, aka “Steven R Stunning” of ’63 Monroe.)
So now in 2025, I was asked to review the LP by Scott Bentley’s latest project, “Stunning”. At first glance, it’s a supergroup of London area musicians including the aforementioned S.R.S., plus rock solid drummer Brad Lavard (Twin Fin, ’63 Monroe), the low-slingin bassist extraordinaire Oscar Macedo (Rizdales, Rumblebees, Burnt Reynolds) and on guitar duties there’s Tim Thompson (Ugly Stepsisters, ’63 Monroe, Aces Wild) and Paul Sguazzin (Freekshow, Before the Damned), with all joining in on vocals throughout.
On deeper exploration of their debut album “Fukk you Rock n Roll, I love you”, this album is a total love letter to the late 70s groups that revolutionized music at the time. All over this record are little nods to power pop, punk rock, glam rock, and then some straight garage rock, paying tribute indirectly to bands like Iggy and The Stooges (who actually gets a mention in one song), Sex Pistols, Ramones, Cheap Trick, MC5, The Cars and New York Dolls with an added tribute to the King of Rock and Roll himself, Elvis A Presley (“Elvis” on side 3)!
This album is super fun. It’s something I could hear the cast from “That 70’s Show” spinning in the basement after getting colossally stoned and ordering too much pizza! A bunch of kids sitting on the floor, records scattered about and the scrapes and scratches on one cover from where the last hash joint was twisted up, with everybody looking and feeling cool. But this is not the 70s, and the musicians on this album are far from being kids, most of them having raised kids now, though it doesn’t slow down their ability or willingness to ROCK THE F*** OUT!
The musicianship is phenomenal, and Steven R Stunning himself, the band’s namesake, has not lost a bit in his voice over the years. As I mentioned earlier, he towers as a “6’3” mean ole rocknroll (sic) machine” and carries a larger than life presence on the stage. I’ve seen all of these guys somewhere at some time in the past, and I know them to be monster players in whatever units they were in. As Stunning, they bring together all of the best parts of their time in the other bands and add it to what may be akin to a big old rock and roll melting pot.
I like all of these songs; they are mostly fun romps to party to, though some with serious themes of revolution and making change in the world. A standout for me is Loaded and Lonely, which features the voice of Tara (aka Mrs Stunning) dropping the line “Whatever!” which oozes with sarcastic sass! It’s essentially a pop-punk version of Billie Eilish’s now-iconic “DUH!”. Because I know Tara and knew her voice, I accidentally spit out my drink laughing when I first heard it. It’s a fun song overall.
Two cover songs also made their way onto this album in the form of the Ginger Wildheart & Courtney Love collab called “Honour” and UK’s “The Subways” banger “Rock n Roll Queen”.
The other big highlight for me is the excellent album closer and title track “Fukk You Rock n Roll, I love you”. The song is pretty much about kids with a dream to make rock and roll an integral part of their lives, doing whatever is necessary to be around it. It’s a tribute to all of the shows thrown together with several bands to share the wealth of an audience, the little venues that dared to welcome punk rock onto their stages for the first time, the vans that took them from city to city breaking down constantly, the fans that showed up and made it all worthwhile and even a little shot at the classic grumpy sound guy character. That’s all neatly packed into this one little song.
Listen to “Fukk You Rock n Roll, I love you” here: https://youtu.be/u2TxpKzkXN8?si=G1H8rNZSPIyk0q4U
This album is a solid offering at 18 tracks over 2 LPs, one of which is a picture disc of a Pepperoni pizza! Just over an hour of total play time, which is best listened to very loud!
This Rock and Roll adventure gets 5 out of 5 on the pizza slice scale. To quote Steven R. from “Night Eater”: “Live fast, Rock Hard and don’t let those bastards grind you down!”
Follow Steven R Stunning on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/steven.r.stunning
Follow Steven R Stunning on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stunningsrb/
NOTE: On Sunday, December 7th, the Palasad Socialbowl will come alive with the 13th Annual 63 Monroe Toys for Tots extravaganza. This benefit concert will feature 13 of London’s premier Punk and Rock n Roll acts.
Reviewed by Ian Gifford
The Beat Magazine 2025 