Iron Lamb – The Original Sin

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Sweden is pretty well known for its death metal. That much is obvious. It’s also been pretty well known for its garage rock revival in the early 21st century, led by the likes of The Hives in the mainstream, as well as its large punk scene that continues on today. Whilst all three of these genres have been led in the mainstream, there’s always been a more underground movement bubbling underneath. Bands such as death metallers Repugnant found cult success within the underground, but what perhaps is interesting is how the same individuals that were in these death metal bands also had an interest in punk and garage rock. Which brings us to Iron Lamb, a garage punk band formed by various past and present members of bands such as Repugnant, Dismember, General Surgery and, err, Ghost (don’t tell anyone, it was probably meant to be a secret!). Whilst The Original Sin might have some tiny similarities with the death metal and grindcore acts its members are normally associated with, this is pure garage punk. It is also a very gritty garage punk, having very little in common with the mainstream revival that occurred a few years back, and having much more in common with the underground garage punk movement a decade prior. This isn’t at all like the Hives, but instead Iron Lamb’s music sits well alongside bands such as early Dwarves, early New Bomb Turks, The Mummies and Zeke. There’s a good dash of Motörhead here as well, made more abundantly clear by a cover of the Motörhead song Poison. You can almost smell the whiskey, weed smoke and burnt tyre with this record. Obviously, those expecting a death metal album are in for a bit of a shock, but otherwise this album harkens back to a time when 90s punk hadn’t yet gone mainstream, and was still in tune with its 60s garage roots. Those were, as they say, the good old days – Iron Lamb seem to have revived them rather stylishly.

Written by James Donovan
More: 2011, Albums, Punk, Quick.Play Reviews, Iron Lamb