Crawling out from under a rock in Arkansas, Iron Tongue was formed as an outlet for the members to play music that doesn't fit the mold with their other bands. And that's perfectly fine with me cause holy shit, this is so good! Not aiming to please they do what they want and they jump in at the deep end wearing their emotions on their sleeves.
Built on a foundation of down'n'dirty rock pulled from the dark sides of town with a lot of emotions and heart thrown into the mix. Iron Tongue are not sugar-coating anything which adds even more to the tales of sadness, rejection, drugs and misery they sing about. Usually I focus on the music first for awhile and only a bit later, if I've been swooned by the tones, I open my ears to what is being sung. But as brutally honest as CT is belting out these bleak stories I was drawn to his words right away.
This is not pedal to the metal rock, no Iron Tongue keep it slow and heavy going for the balls in stealth mode and before I know it I'm crushed by an enormous weight as a sense of failure washes over me. This isn't pretty people but damn, it's so fucking good! Imbedded in the music are touches of 70's rock - there's a lot of organs in here, some southern rock in the melody and of course the slide guitar as well as 80's new wave and punk...and a very healthy dose of the masters of Southern Darkness, King Giant. And the band utilizes these influences impeccably as in this blend they have found the perfect way to create moods and feelings.
What amazes me about Dogs Have Barked, Birds Have Flown, apart from the fantastic music, is the fact that as depressing as the lyrics are, they are also very beautiful and the perfect catharsis. I listened to it for the first time on a real bad day and it worked wonders then and every bad day since. As soon as the last track Said'N'Done ends I'm relaxed and at ease. And that's just the way I want it with music. Regardless the style, if a band releases and invigorates me combined with playing great music, they have an avid supporter in me. And that's exactly what Iron Tongue are doing so my loving their album is not so strange after all.
Having made such a great album with Dogs Have Barked, Birds Have Flown, there is no telling how far Iron Tongue can go. Of course, the members are all active in other bands but that shouldn't interfere too badly with this gang. I hope I am right because they deserve to be out there delivering their gospel to the masses. The world would be a much better place then. So people don't miss out on Iron Tongue, you won't regret it one bit however you should be ashamed if you ignore them.
Swedebeast
