Shooting to be
the Runaways of the new millennium,
McQueen is a British all-female hard rock outfit with heavy pop-punk overtones. Lead singer
Leah Duors is more
Pat Benatar than
Lita Ford, but that's no bad thing: in the long run, decent technique tends to trump attitude-over-ability, and
Duors' no-nonsense attack on songs like "Bitch" and the defiant femme-rocker anthem "Not for Sale" ("Stop talking to my chest!") is the band's most appealing aspect. Because frankly, other than
Duors' sharp lyrics and aggressive delivery,
Break the Silence is entirely competent but just average mainstream hard rock, melodic and tuneful with just enough metal to keep the thrashers happy and just enough hooks to appeal to everyone else. Exemplified by the catchy but forgettable first single "Running out of Things to Say,"
McQueen's brand of hard-candy rock will appeal primarily to folks who miss the early-'80s Sunset Strip scene and those kids buying
Lita Ford and
Joan Jett solo albums out of the used bins.