Right, let’s get one thing straight… Motorhead are the best band there ever was or will be. That’s just my opinion of course but if you disagree then you’re simply wrong.
I reckon the Swedish rockers in Iron Lamb might well agree with me too as they are very much in the same punked up rock & roll vein as Lemmy, Mikkey & Phil. So much so that after I listened to ‘Fool’s Gold’ the first time I was spitting feathers – how dare these gnarly Swedes plagiarise my favourite band.
But then I thought – hang on, if you are gonna rip off another band, might as well be the greatest rock & roll band there is… (I know I would if I wasn’t totally devoid of musical talent), and Iron Lamb do just that…. But they do it quite well.
‘One Way Track’ roars of the starting line like ‘Iron Fist’ – a full on meaty rock riff and some cracking vocals. ‘Smile Now, Cry Later’ could be off any of the ‘Heads later albums and is a touch more soulful than the punky opener. Then we’re into ‘Feed The Fire’ which sounds exactly like ‘Doctor Rock’ – which is of course a good thing. ‘Backstabbers’ is a speedy bruiser of an anthem, a real neck botherer with some cracking bluesy solos….. but then ‘Leave Me Be’ comes on….. WTF guys??? I thought my iPod was playing a cruel joke on my lug holes. This track is a bit arse and sounds like a 69 Eyes cast off. Very out of place. I can see what the lads are trying to do but …… no. Just no. ‘The tables are turning while the uterus is yearning’…… what does that even mean?Again….. NO!
The album gets back on form come ‘Centre Of The Universe’ – a total ripper and fastest track on the album. The rest of it rocks on and album closer ‘Deadend Blues’ is a solid bluesy number with a heavy riff and Bragman giving the best Lemmy impersonation you’ll hear this year.
If you’re a fan of fuzzed up, garage rock that’s drenched in Motorhead then you could do a lot worse than taking a punt on this….. Iron Lamb are better than Chrome Division!
(7.5/10 Mark Eve)
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