ALBUM REVIEW: On Thin Ice – Lizzies

Following the release of their debut record Good Luck in 2016, Madrid rockers LIZZIES are back with their second album On Thin Ice. Teaming up with The Sign Records, the new album is set to pick up and carry on where the band left off with Good Luck, which reached #16 in the Spanish charts, and have an 80s theme throughout.

The record begins with Like An Animal, which features heavily on the bass to begin with in the intro as the song progresses gradually and properly kicks in through the psychedelic vocals of Elna. The 80s theme is very evident throughout the track, and has a strong air of DIRE STRAITS, both in terms of the overall sound and the vocals. It’s upbeat and rhythmic and really throws you back to that era, with the nostalgia oozing throughout.

The second track is No Law City, and from the sounds of it seems to be paying a homage to the classic rock scene of the 80s. Again there’s a lot of emphasis on the bass, and with a faster paced intro the bass rhythm sounds very similar to that famous DEEP PURPLE hit Highway Star. Even with the way the song is put together in terms of the verse structure and build up to the chorus, there really are a lot of similarities. Fortunately the theme doesn’t continue throughout the remainder of the album, and actually the vast majority of the tracks maintain that nostalgic 80s sound while being something completely fresh and original.

Some of the tracks also go down the classic heavy metal route too, rather than traditional 80s rock hits that many of us have become accustomed to over the years. One of these tracks is Playing With Death, which begins relatively slowly before the guitar riff kicks in and adds a big slice of heavy into the mix. Elna delivers exceptionally well on the vocals, and this track in particular shows that the band can experiment with their sound and still pull it off.

This is perhaps one of the most surprising records to come out of 2018 to date – LIZZIES have been able to go back into the archives and revive 80s rock and reinvigorate it into the 21st century, and granted while the first two tracks are very much alike to two classic hits from the era, it’s really more of a tribute to those kind of songs as they’ve still managed to put their own spin and style on it, while the rest of the record really explores the depths of the band and just how far they can go with this theme. It keeps you rocking all the way through from start to finish, and for those of us who are old enough to remember the era it’s a great throwback, and certainly for the nostalgia alone it’s well worth listening to, as well as keeping a close eye on how the band progress over the coming months through this record.

Rating: 8/10

On Thin Ice is out now via The Sign Records. 

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