There’s no way you can’t like Anvil. Here’s exhibit 3 million as to why that’s the case.
“Set your sights, travel far, plane or train, bus or car,” sings Steve “Lips” Kudlow on “Rocking The World.” Then he adds the payoff: “Dedication to the music cause,” before this: “every country has its own delight.”
You could end the review there because, quite frankly, that’s what has driven Kudlow, Robb Reiner, and latterly Chris Robertson to do this for 20 albums—the same childlike excitement, the same love of metal they have always had.
Who knows what “delight” they found in Nuneaton, the last time I saw them play, to about 100 people. Maybe it was the Subway or the Lidl? Whatever it was, they’d have found something. That’s what Anvil does.
That same simplistic joy informs their music. The fists-in-the-air title song, the riff, the solo. The idea that they feel like standard bearers for the old school. It’s a beauty.
By their own admission, they feel like “our old selves” here, and that’s the vibe of “Feed Your Fantasy.” If “Fight For Your Rights” sounds a bit like Motörhead, then that pre-supposes that the trio didn’t aim for exactly that. Likewise, they know “Heartbroken” has a Sabbath riff. They’d probably get a kick out of the fact I am typing this about two miles from the factory that Iommi used to work in.
Keeping it this simple is a gift. And make no mistake, Anvil aren’t doing this for decades because “Lips” plays his guitar with a dildo at the live shows. People all too often focus on the peripherals as if Anvil is a joke. Listen to “Gold And Diamonds.” It’s anything but.
“Dead Man Shoes” harkens back to when the New Wave was new. It sounds delighted to do so, and when they do their social commentary, as in “Truth Is Dying,” it is done with a real feeling for their worldview.
Never outstaying their welcome, “Run Away” is proper rock ‘n’ roll, and if it rhymes “on the double” with “trouble,” then good for it. That’s neatly followed up with “World Of Fools,” a quasi-thrasher that is unimpressed with humanity.
Often heavier than they’re given credit for, “Condemned Liberty” has just a touch of Slayer going on, raging as it does against “cancel culture.” And speaking of “rage,” the last one, “Blind Rage,” works itself into a fury too.
You could contend, if you wanted to, that Anvil are perpetual underdogs—universally loved but forever in the shadows. There may be a bit of truth to that, but you know who doesn’t think that? Anvil. To them, they are “One And Only,” and good luck to them for keeping it so real.
Rating: 8.5/10
