Reviews
Artist: P-A-U-L
Album: Gunshot Lullaby
Label: E&E entertainment
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.myspace.com/paullamb
Paul Andrew Ulysses Lamb (abbreviated to P-A-U-L I suspect because another artist shares the name Paul Lamb and has skill paramount to P-A-U-L), released his debut Hangin' on for dear life in 2007 as a memoir to his life on the roads, possibly one reason why his most recent release Gunshot lullaby is notably lacking in substance, perhaps he has already said everything he has to say. The album feels more like an excuse to churn out electric guitar solo after solo while downplaying the almost forgotten lyrics hiding behind them.
Lambs background and the heavy influence from Hendrix and Cash have unfortunately not yielded an album of any great stature; Lamb has undeniable guitar ability and vocal capability, and yet I don't think this is an artist you should want to keep an eye on for the future. There is a definite insincerity surrounding the whole album, despite some intense self-taught jams laced throughout the album.
A well placed appropriate guitar solo can elevate an alright song into something substantial, there is obviously a lacking of the sense of when the "right moment" in each track is, as P-A-U-L loosely throws them in at every possibility.
Despite all my complaints, when the solos have been cut back and the rawness and talent of P-A-U-L has been recovered he's actually very likeable. In "Gunshot Lullaby" the title track of the album, Lamb demonstrates some definite talent and both lyrical and vocal ability, at least in the first half of the song before he remembers who he's trying to sound like, and almost abruptly reverts his style, which disappointingly he maintains for the remainder of the album.
Gunshot lullaby remains an artificial amalgamation of hard hitting Blues Rock with numbing grooves, lighting licks and soaring melodies that could be easily mistaken for any number of other albums stacked in the corner of a music shop, filed under "Unoriginal Rock"
I think Lamb would benefit from dropping his current band, The Harper Wood Heroes, maybe cutting an acoustic solo debut, where his lyrical and guitar playing ability could be more noticeable. At the moment, as it is Gunshot Lullaby, A-V-O-I-D.
Atlas