By John Sturm
Sometimes in life all you want is a good dose of rock and roll. No frills, sweaty rock and roll. Some of you might turn to AC/DC (too old, almost a parody of themselves), some might turn to Airbourne (really? Seriously?) some of you might even be brave enough to venture towards The Darkness (there be beasties here....). Well stop that you silly sausage and slide some Blackbird into your ears with their debut offering Of Heroes And Enemies.
With a thunderous yell and a barrage of guitars we’re off to the races with ‘Fire Your Guns’; a stomping rocker that forces you to raise the horns and bang your head. You are powerless to resist. Stop it: you look silly. Just go with it. Luckily this four-piece from Germany know when to temper the beast and follow this adrenaline blast up with a more mid-tempo boogie of ‘Not About You’. And that pretty much sums up this album in a sense.....
I mentioned those bands up there at the start for a reason. There is more than a whiff of AC/DC about this album. It’s bar room rock and roll, designed for sweaty clubs with sticky carpets and cheap no-name beer. That is not a criticism by the way, I love the straightforward nature of the songs. The blues soaked riffs, shouty chorus bits, squealed vocals, relentless bass lines all hallmarks of that Aussie bunch but that doesn't mean Blackbird don’t have something to offer. ‘Devil’s Soul’ features a great bit of double tracked vocals that is part harmony, part spoken word. ‘Deuce’ has a slow groove to it that feels as heavy as a truck and ‘Hero’ has a lovely bit of interplay between guitar and drums.
Look. This album is not going to break any moulds. It’s no frills rock and roll. Yes, the singer (whose name is Angus by the way. Honest!) sounds like Bon Scott/Brian Johnson. Yes, Blackbird have taken their cues from a handful of bands. But you know what? It’s still a great, solid rock album. It’s the album you put on at the start of the party to get everyone in the mood. It fires you up and gets you ready for a night of booze and debauchery. Blackbird aren’t reinventing the wheel here. But they are adding another spoke to it. And it deserves to be there.
Plus it’s streets ahead of anything Airbourne have ever released......
