Fastway

Well, yeah, I guess someone is excited for this first Fastway album to drop in over two decades, but who? Here, ex-Motörhead scuzzbag Fast Eddie Clark lays down 100-percent '80s guitar playing, over which Toby Jepson lays down 100-percent '80s hard rock crooning. It's well played and a lot of fun to listen to, but this won't gain the band any new fans. While songs like straight-up hard rock opener "Deliver Me" and the peeler rock of "Leave the Light On" are well written, memorable and a ton of fun, this is geared more towards the 40-year-old dude who still has Salty Dog and Little Caesar cassettes. And he still listens to them, shaking his fist at bands today, how they just don't get it. But, to be fair, Fastway aren't looking for new fans. They're old dogs plugging away at the rock they love so well, maybe even blissfully unaware that this style of music isn't exactly at the forefront of pop culture in 2012. It's easy to laugh at stuff like this, but sometimes the world needs some brain-dead hard rock played by grizzled vets.