Rating: 4/10
Label: YellowNote 2011
Review by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom
Here's a statement from inside the booklet of the new Lemon Bird and I quote, "After the soaring first flight on the wings of 'Rara Alvis' comes a new flight. This is Hangman and The Jury, eleven new eggs in the Lemon Bird nest. Perfectly shaped and developed, they are ready to explode into your ears and beautify your mind with the sound that can only be Lemon Bird. Remember, Lemon Bird never disappoints, only satisfies", end quote. Blimey? Well, that's birdie nam-nam, entertainment, and a fun read for sure, I'd hate to be the one to let them know though, but in my humble and very personal opinion, they do disappoint on their sophomore release.
Lemon Bird are probably a fun live band with the presence, confidence and attitude, and whatever club they play they will trash. Sadly the appeal is not in the songs themselves this time rather than in the spirit of the band that plays them in the late sixties/early seventies mood. The Swedes are genuine rockers and it's merely a shame that tracks such as "Black Heart Woman", "Get You", Market Street", etc, will have you asleep at the wheel at no time. Influenced by Led Zeppelin, Cream, November, and every other band of the daze, Lemon Bird are desperately trying to revive the free spirit of yesterday's era.
The band proceed to kick out the jams and fair enough, they're good at what they do, but the melodies are just not strong enough on this platter. It's almost like many of the songs are merely reduced to untogether jam sessions and simply add soaring vocals on top of this. I do enjoy, "Down The Hatch", and the mellow, "Melodrama", the latter being frankly just marvelous rock in the early seventies groove and Led Zeppelin. In fact, it's a smashing example of the songs they should be writing ALL of the time - simply marvelous stuff!!! Make sure to at least check out soundclips of "Melodrama" at links below if you're into the genre and style.
www.lemonbird.se
MySpace site
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