IRON LAMB – Fool’s Gold
- Posted on 22-02-2015
The second album from Sweden’s Iron Lamb "Fool’s Gold" is another homage to a bygone period of hard rock/ metal history – the Fast Eddie Clarke years of Motörhead. As a quintet songs like "Smile Now Cry Later" and "Mockingbird" possess this added girth and rhythm possibilities that take punk-oriented, raw hard rock from the 70’s and 80’s into the current marketplace. Vocalist D Bragman has the raspy heads on delivery necessary to slam home the melodies and hooks as his bandmates keep their focus on 3-4 chord action.
Drummer Thomas Daun exercises a little bit of Keith Moon fill flair on the longer, dramatic "Pink Mist". There are plenty of times where we need bands to get back to lean songwriting and primal tones – and I feel that Iron Lamb is an adequate band to entertain and excite crowds. How can you not scream, shout, and wave fists high in the air to the 1-2-3-4 heads down "Center of the Universe" or the Daniel Ekeroth bass antics in the mid-tempo closer "Deadend Blues"? Plus you’ll get some interesting lead tradeoffs at times (check out opener "One Way Track") from guitarists Johan Wallin and Jens Bäckelin, another throwback aspect that is tasteful while bringing up the adrenaline level from time to time.
"Fool’s Gold" does not reinvent the rock ‘n’ roll genre – sometimes music is supposed to be purely about taking one away from the troubles of their day and giving listeners a healthy release. In an ideal world, Iron Lamb would open for Motörhead and remind the trio of their heritage, but in the meantime this record will serve up their legacy just fine – and should be essential if you’ve loved Lemmy and the boys through the years.