It is reasonably clear both from the humorous album title and anarchic artwork, but also the hilarious pseudonyms the members have chosen, that Swedish Hard Rockers LOU SIFFER AND THE HOWLING DEMONS are not a group that take themselves too seriously. This is not to say they are not a serious act, the quality of the music is no joke, but they have a mischievous sense of humour about what they are doing which is refreshingly welcome in the consequential times we are living through. Notwithstanding the members, the band itself is not actually that old, founded in 2008 "Too Old to Die Young" represents their third full length release and their first with this new four-piece line-up, having recently shed a guitarist leaving all six string duties to be performed by long-time member Kahn Ibbal (get it?). Similarly, to British Rock, Punk, & Metal legends MOTORHEAD the band leader and namesake is their equally enigmatically named bassist Lou Siffer, although vocal duties in this case are ably handled by K. Oz, a man possessed of a savage roar with more than a little Lemmy about it.

Diving into the album, the first thing to note is that the track times are short, this is a 12-song album, and comes in at just over 36 minutes. I will leave you to do the maths on that, but as we can see, the band does not plan to hang about. The next thing to note is that this is not an attempt at creating a diverse body of work, from initial detonation of "The Worm", to the very appropriately titled "Can't Slow Down" this album is a relentless ride of full-throated Hard Rocking mayhem. Kahn Ibbal's guitars are packed with outrageous grooving riffs, and he brings an innate sense of melody in his overdubs, creating leads that drive the tunes, providing a perfect foil for the guttural bellow of Oz's vocals. While Siffer's bass hurtles forward as though propelled by jet engines, new guy Zack Rilegious keeps the pace with a never less than thunderous delivery and the biting production work has a clarity that brings it all together into a highly effective package.

There are fantastically self-deprecating and irreverential lyrics to be found in spades across the LP, never more than in the album's title track where Oz laments being "Too bald to grow long hair, too poor to be a millionaire". I'm not sure this is particularly reflective of the man himself, but the lyrics are a hoot in any case. One of the cleverest pieces is second track "Sucks to be You", aside from the excellent guitars which combine a melodic lead with a raucous riff, again the lyrics are a work of comedic genius, brutally skewering Alanis Morissette's "Ironic" with the important distinction that many of the situations described do have an element of irony about them as opposed to being merely tales of poor luck related by a semi-strangled cat.

Musical highlights are the one/two mid-album punch of "White Hollow God" and "Night of The Damned", the former a swaggering, sleazy, sweat soaked 6/8 groover, the latter a curious boogie shuffle come Punk track. As the band intended, the album successfully evokes imagery of biker gangs and petrol heads, underdressed women and hard partying through the night. Crack open a beer, kick back and enjoy.