SIDEBURN: "Jail"

Rating: 5/10

Label: Metal Heaven 2011

Review by Alan Holloway

Ho hum, here comes another AC/DC clone, this time fresh out of Switzerland and calling themselves Sideburn. “Jail” is their fifth album in over a decade, and it really is twelve tracks of bar room boogie that is about as middle of the road as you can get without painting white lines on the drum kit.

Sideburn set their stall out early with “Live To Rock”, a track that couldn’t be more AC/DC if it came wrapped in a schoolboy cap and some plastic devil horns. Whilst Airbourne have proved that this sort of thing can still stand up as a fresh, energetic style of metal, Sideburn never quite reach the heights of the Aussie quarter. They get close with the highly enjoyable “The Red Knight”, but it’s a rare peak in an album laden down with pub rock anthems and nothing more. Vocalist Roland Pierrehumbert does an okay job, and the band keep things together without being in any way spectacular, and the end result will keep you sort of entertained, but that’s about it. By the time “Long Beard & Boogie” comes along 9 tracks in, it’s hard to care very much what comes after, especially as it’s “Good Boy”, a track that 100% rips off the chorus of “Hell Bent For Leather” in a bad way. There’s something here for fans of the genre, but ultimately “Jail” just isn’t good enough for anyone else to get worked up about.


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