Review: Leather Lung ‘Graveside Grin’
I’m sure that I’m not the first, and definitely won’t be the last, person to think this, but upon hearing Boston’s Leather Lung for the first time, my thoughts immediately turn to Atlanta’s now defunct stoner metallers Artimus Pyledriver and New Hampshire’s finest speed doom merchants Scissorfight, and my head is revelling at the songs that are about to follow.
For a bunch of longtime friends and ex-bandmates, who needed a good excuse to keep partying, Leather Lung is an alibi that keeps rolling on and on, and this new release will probably be high on your playlist when you have your next all night party with friends, as it’s raucous, full of head banging anthems and should come with a health warning!!
The thing I like most is that the music is full of energy, take first song Spit In The Casket, it comes at you all guns blazing with thumping drums from Ben, gritty guitars from Zach and Greg, heavy bass from Jesse and then the gravel tones from Mike come through like a slap around the chops, you can almost feel the Jack Daniels fuelled nights of writing and playing bursting out of the seams. Then with a delicate bluesy riff intro, Big Bad Bodega Cat is upon you, and keeps the tempo racing, your head banging and feet stomping.
The music is unrelenting from this New England five piece, and the incorrigible headbangers keep coming at you thick and fast, dropping slabs of boogie metal, such as Freewheelin’ Maniac and Empty Bottle Boogie. No imagination is needed for what inspired the latter’s title with lyrics such as ‘pass that bottle around’ being screamed over and over again, but it all just fits perfectly together.
rowdy music for rowdy people…
A light relief echoes in the start of Guilty Pleasure before it explodes in your face, with a deep, heavy riff and growl vocal, but as the song continues, it demonstrates the band combining stoner metal, doom with unrelenting sludge, to make something unique to them. Then we have an interlude, Macrodose, which I’ve got no idea why it’s there, so I’ll crack on!!
And it’s off to La La Land next, which gets them back to their usual cacophonous selves, embracing their own madness with more ear-splitting metal. The downturned low bass and feedback ushers in Twisting Flowers with a softer edge from vocalist Mike, yet is intermingled with a more vigorous vocal performance as the riff drags the melody along.
Moving towards the final few songs, they do demonstrate some versatility, with Headstone being a bit slower, with a great bass line from Jesse running throughout, almost like the final glass of Jack Daniels before falling asleep. Cornered Animal is the song that wakes you from your slumber for one last dance, while Raised Me Rowdy brings up the rear and gets the body moving around like a drunken teenager, stumbling about, before finally falling flat on your face.
However, this album does anything but that, as the party will be in full swing wherever and whenever Leather Lung are in town. Pass the bottle around and embrace the sound of five friends enjoying themselves as this is rowdy music for rowdy people!!
Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
