JacksonAussie noisemaking duo Jackson Firebird have a real unique spin on the two piece band which was rather popular round the turn of the 2000’s. Using the age old guitarist and drummer with both handling vocal duty formula, they mix hard rock with the blues and some sense of fun and humour to create a rather distinct sound. Without any further ado, let’s see what falls when we shake the breakdown.

The first thing of note about this album is the heavy reliance on the loudness. Given the minimal make up of the band in terms of just guitar and drums, they create a real full sound when needed with excellent use of fuzz, quirky pitch altering effects and good use of dynamics and volume. Tracks like “Mohawk Bang”, the album’s opener have a real thick groove and some gritty vocals in there but the solid drums and real punchy riffs give it that kick.

“Get Away” has a real dirty tone to it and “New Wave” brings the rock and roll feel and “High Love” has some shades of Led Zeppelin about it, but its where the more bluesy elements come into play is where this album shines the most. “Sin For Your Lovin” has some real sweet slide guitar and I have mentioned on here before that I am a sucker for some slide guitar use and this track just oozes great. Stomping groove, that distinct slide sound and some real bluesy groove make this one of the best moments of the album. “Devil’s Door”, “Voodoo” and “Sick ‘N Tired” also have some great bluesy licks, incorporating some 12 bar styled riffing and great lead work and punchy riffs with solid drums… But that is where the good stuff stops really.

There’s a woeful cover of “Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen on this album and vocally… Urgh, just stop, and tracks like “The Clapping Song” and “Headache Mantra” are rather silly, especially with the awful alt-metal rap styled lyrical delivery being the majority of the song and other tracks which have promise are slightly hampered when these lyrical delivery methods come in out of the blue on them.

Overall, it’s not a bad album, but it’s not very good either. It’s just average. The music is spot on for the most part and the clever use of volume dynamics and effects to create a fuller sound with so little in terms of instruments works great, but the vocals and the awful cover really hold this album back. It’s worth a listen I guess, but don’t expect to be blown away by it.

(5/10 Fraggle)

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