Released By-Frontiers Music
Released Date-Out Now
Genre-Hard Rock
Line up:
Hannes Kett-Lead Vocals
Jani Laine-Lead Guitar
Joel Alex-Bass
Miki Kalske-Rhythm Guitar
Ana Willman-Drums
Track Listing:
Wake Up
Momma’s Boy
House Of Cards
Begging For Mercy
Same Ol’ Blues
Mental Slavery
Behind The 8-Ball
For Crying Out Loud
Bleeding
M.L.N.W.
Yet another band to bolt out of the Frontiers Music stable, Finland’s Shiraz Lane planted seeds of excitement with the release of their 2015 EP Be The Slave Or Be The Change. Having slogged their guts out in every conceivable hell-hole in their homeland, the bands graft was rewarded with a deal from one of the biggest labels in rock music today.
Proving that they are hell bent on making the most of their well-earned fortune, curtain raiser Wake Up wastes no time in grabbing you by the lugholes. With a statuesque chorus, that incites mayhem and a furiously delivered guitar solo, you couldn’t wish for a more bruising opening. Your bones are kept well and truly rattling with the funk loaded Momma’s Boy, a thoroughly cock sure track that’s oozing with brashness.
If these boyos weren’t even a tad influenced by Lowestoft’s finest, The Darkness, then they’re lying profusely through their back teeth. Begging For Mercy is like listening to the finest rip off you ever likely to hear, Hannes Kett belts this one out like his Justin Hawkins Nordic half brother. If this was the intention, they’ve pulled it off with deadly accuracy.
The obligatory power ballad on a rock album can often be something you might be tempted to skip over. We heard it all before, the sentimental lyrics, the big fat swaying chorus, and of course the shape-throwing guitar solo. While they’re not breaking new territory with Same Ol’ Blues, it more than ticks the boxes, and will no doubt get some adolescent rocker a shift somewhere.
You could accuse them of being creatively lethargic by recalling a couple of tunes that originally appeared on their EP. That said, one turn of Mental Slavery, which in parts may remind you of Skid Row’s Monkey Business, will convince you that this tune deserves its place on a big release. But it’s the decision to include the smoky tones of Behind The 8-Ball that could prove to be a masterstroke. Its lazy, doomy, blues feel will hit your system faster than a speeding bullet. And as flawless as Kett is again, it’s lead fret man, Jani Laine who totally dominates with a genial solo.
Title track, For Crying Out Loud, will quash any fear that a filler is lurking. The rebel rouser of a chorus should ensure anthemic status with their ever-growing hardcore following. As much as it maybe painful to admit, but closing track M.L.N.W. (make love not war) does open with a riff that sounds like it’s been leased from U2’s The Edge. That aside, they ensure this album finishes on a blissful high with a fully dosed up shot of arena rock. And all done without a beanie hat welded to their heads.
If you think Shiraz Lane are just another run of the mill sleaze rock band sticking to the formula, there are several gems on this opus to sway your theory.
Reviewed by: Brian Boyle
Score Brian: 9/10
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