Lenny Lashley long ago cemented his status among Boston’s punk rock royalty, having fronted Darkbuster on and off for decades as well as played guitar in the wildly underrated Street Dogs. But for the past five years, fronting his solo acoustic Lenny Lashley’s Gang Of One, he’s managed to turn in arguably his best work ever, lyrically, and musically. Nowhere is that more apparent than on Five Great Egrets, his latest LP of folk punk anthems.
Building on the foundation laid out by folks like Billy Bragg and in similar vein to his peers Tim Barry, Chuck Ragan and Frank Turner, Lashley’s punk-tinged folk focus here allows for more space to finally show off his powerful vocals and thoughtful lyrics. Whereas Darkbuster churned out some remarkably fun songs about booze and bluster, Five Great Egrets finds Lashley singing about love – good and bad (“Why You,” “Heart of Stone”); the realization that you can’t change others (“Not Sorry”); and about eventually finding hope (“It Got So Dark”). Even the song “Park Your Carcass,” co-written by Dicky Barrett and Joe Gittleman of The Mighty BossTones, manages to fit nicely alongside Lashley’s other songs.
Proving that he still had more to say about humanity after his powerful politically themed last album, All Are Welcome, the acoustic “Mexico,” coming toward the end of this record, is a sobering track about immigrants seeking a better life for their families in the U.S., punctuated by horns and Spanish backing vocals. “The album title came to me on a morning drive along the coast where I live,” said Lashley. “I saw what I thought were five herons, but they were actually great egrets. Thematically, it’s the same as the rest of my solo material. All of the stuff that I write is directly related to my personal life in one way or another.” Lashley was able to rely on some talented friends to help with the album including C.J. Ramone and members of The Mighty Mighty BossTones, Dropkick Murphys, Street Dogs), The Bouncing Souls, The Parlor Mob and Mercy Union.
