Nearly seven years in, and it shows: Philly combo Beretta 76 are battleship–tight and really hitting their stride right now as they merge power–pop, garage–punk and classic ’70s–style arena–sized hard rock into one whip–smart attack. Onstage singer–guitarist Camille Escobedo’s vocals, tough ’tude and allure might have you thinking of a threesome (artistically speaking, of course) between Pat Benatar, Joan Jett and Shirley Manson, while the rest of the band ably and often achieves their goal of making it ”blunt, unprissy, immediate, pissed–off, melodic and raw–rocking.” Bonus: They do a roaring cover of AC/DC’s ”Whole Lotta Rosie” that could probably wake Bon Scott from the dead.

- Michael Alan Goldberg, Philadelphia Weekly

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"Once you hear the way Camille Escobedo screams "Oh, yeah!" on Black Beauty's opening title track, you know this is going to be good. The 10 bracing, catchy tracks on this Philadelphia band's self-released debut pack plenty of power-chord crunch, and the quartet doesn't let its skepticism about the "Hit Parade" talk it out of constructing song after song full of catchy hooks. Escobedo has got her Joan Jett-Suzi Quatro snarl down cold, and Black Beauty teems with the unpretentious energy of a not-too-polished garage band ready to take on the world."

- Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

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"Though you can trace their hard and hooky songs to institutions like the Pretenders, Cheap Trick and the Ramones, Philly's Beretta76 sounds totally unconcerned with what's cool, what's hip, or what will get bespectacled bloggers all atwitter. Having kicked around locally for a few years, the band is still anchored in South Philadelphia while other indie rockers have hightailed it to the northern neighborhoods. The brand-new Black Beauty sounds like what you'd hear blasting from a suspicious van idling outside Goretti. Only fitting, since the cover - a pulp erotica image of a python wrapped around a scantily clad damsel - looks like something that would be airbrushed on such a van. Black Beauty is an amped-up affair where singer Camille Escobedo's talons-drawn tenor pierces the pop-minded skin of guitarist Pete Rydberg's carefully constructed tunes. It's a winning mix of blood and sugar."

- Patrick Berkery, Philadelphia Inquirer

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Chicks with balls are sexy. No, I’m not into tranny-porn – I’m thinking more along the lines of AC/DC’s “She’s Got Balls.” And it’s just that type of straight-up, no-B.S. Rock’N’Roll that Beretta76 blast out of my stereo speakers. The Runaways and Joan Jett are obvious comparisons, but they work, so I’m stickin’ with ‘em. Four-four downbeat rhythms propel the bar-chord riffage and lead guitar licks, all of which are topped off by a tough-chick vocal snarl that is both seductive and dangerous. Once in a while, the band veers off into Suzi Quatro Pop Rock territory, giving the CD a nice balance to the fist-pounding rockers that define the Beretta76 sound. If you’re looking for a solid, no-frills Rock’N’Roll album to keep you company, Black Beauty has what you desire.

- Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover


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Not quite what I was expecting. What I expected was a rock’n’roll über-assault, but what I got was the black ops going on behind the lines of the blitzkrieg. So once I got over my own expectations, I rather liked this one. Imagine a smoky, opiate-laced version of the Donnas—swirling and hazy, yet straightforward, with Camille Escobedo’s vocals wrapping around the listener like an anaconda around a goat, slowing throttling and crushing sensibilities. Funny how I wrote that without looking at the cover which has a woman with a snake wrapped around her, and she’s blending with and becoming the snake at certain points; it may be a bit of a stretcher, but the cover serves as a metaphor for the music. I think that I’m deconstructing too much now. Final word: this rocks, but in a more seductive, alluring fashion rather than simply a brutal assault.



-The Lord Kveldulfr, Razorcake