Norwegian rockers Spitfire are back with their second full-length album, entitled Fuel to Burn (Indie Distro). Describing themselves as “high power and performance, just like the famous fighter”, this album definitely proves that statement wrong. If you were expecting fast-paced and furious riffs then you were definitely misinformed as Spitfire are another so-called ‘70s’ classic rock band, with more innuendos than you can… shake a stick at. Sigh.
Opening track ‘Fuel to Burn’ starts off with an impressive bassline which you think may lead into something exciting, however, once the lyrics kick in it is easy to see that it is not going to go anywhere. The repetition of ‘come on baby, light my fire’ is easily reminiscent of a Take That song, and it is safe to say that whoever writes the lyrics is definitely obsessed with cheesy sex references; ‘Friday night in my home town, looking for a girl. Got a rocket in my pocket, welcome to my world’ and ‘Let me see those long legs honey, wrapped around the stick’. It’s enough to make any girl, feminist or not, shudder, but if you are into Steel Panther style innuendos and cheesy rock music then you would definitely love this song.
‘Dogfight’ sounds almost like an early Bullet For My Valentine song, with added sexual innuendos. It’s hard to take a band serious when they talk about ‘jerking back’ their ‘stick’. Spitfire are an extremely confusing band to listen to, as you are unsure whether they are deliberately trying to be a comical band or if it is just coincidental.
Haunting riffs and lyrics greet you in ‘Far Away’, which is possibly one of the most interesting tracks on the album. Steering clear from the cheesiness, Spitfire prove that they can actually create a catchy and exciting song, rather than sticking to immature and silly innuendos. The vocals are impressive and the guitar solos are both technical and unique.
Final track ‘Down’ is hard-hitting and heavy, definitely making an instant impression on you.
It’s difficult to understand why they did not open the album with this track, as it is much more exciting and well-written than the sexually charged nonsense at the beginning. There are some definite hits merged in amongst the comedic songs, however, if you have never listened to Spitfire before then you will not know whether they are deliberately trying to be comical or not… Even after several listens I still have no idea.
3.0/10
JULIA CONOPO