Album Review: Wolfsbane - "Genius"

 

Well it's only taken the buggers a decade but we officially have a new Wolfsbane album to get our teeth into. And let's be honest, in these dark times, a bit of rock 'n' roll energy topped with that trademark Howling Mad Shithead humour is something that you're never gonna hear us saying no to round here.

At just half an hour for ten tracks, this is very much Wolfsbane returning to their Live Fast Die Fast roots as the frenetic opener Spit It Out, an ode to pub punch-ups in their hometown of Tamworth, quickly makes clear. Zombies shows a bit more of an epic side to it reminiscent of their trademark song Kathy Wilson from way back when. Impossible Love is a satisfyingly meaty mid-tempo chug which chucks in a lyrical reference to the classic Ezy at the end before Rock The Boat's pounding drums hark back to songs like You Load Me Down in the Down Fall The Good Guys era and Smalltown Kisses has a big fist-in-the-air chorus reminiscent of Smoke And Red Light off Wolfsbane Save The World.

The second half of the album kicks in with the full-throttle riff-fest of Things Are Getting Better which might just be the best thing on here so far before Good Time is an agreeable cut and thrust slice of attitude with some good guitar heroics from Jase Edwards. In fact, the whole band are on good form for this album with Jeff Hateley and Steve Danger being their usual rock solid rhythm selves at the back and Blaze Bayley howling out the calls to arms with all the conviction you'd associate with him, the fist-in-the-air Rock City Nights being a case in point - a live favourite in waiting if ever I heard one. Running Wild has a similarly agreeable moshalong quality to it with a bit of Won't Get Fooled Again style slow-fast dynamics mixed in before the gentle piano ballad I Was Born In '69 guides us home with a surprise curveball before it builds into a big lighters-aloft affair.

That one unexpected twist aside though, Genius is unmistakably a Wolfsbane album and sees the band very much sticking to what they do best. The key though is that it contains all the brimming enthusiasm and "charge of the light brigade" dynamics that we've come to love from 'em over the last three decades. In other words - don't expect anything you haven't heard before here but it's got energy in buckets to keep you smiling throughout. More than anything, like any good Wolfsbane album should, it's a set of songs that'll no doubt sound brilliant in a sweaty venue with a pint in your hand and enough space to jump around and headbang. Welcome back lads, we've missed you.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)