Plateselskapet Mai 1974 / Sommor 2015
Drabantbyrock
Heavy psych from Norway lays its hardware on the line.
In the last two decades, Scandinavian rock has become an integral part of global music scene, yet it didn’t emerge from barren lands, and here’s the proof. This band’s second album, out in 1974, wouldn’t need English lyrics to hit home, as Bent Pate’s axe cuts the calm from the off with the title track whose refrain translates as “Suburban Rock” and whose sound is steeped in rhythm-and-blues. Further away from the city, “Om Du Var En Fisker” unfolds a pastoral panorama, even though Rolf Aakervik’s voice blunts the sharpness of instrumental front once electric charge rips it to shreds.
The sense of serenity shifted for drama also fills “Vi Blir Fler Og Fler” that sees a guitar bolero splinter into harmonic weave and vocals spin into choir on refrain, and “Kjære, Lille Deg” is as dreamy as it gets for acoustic six-string to solo delicately, but while the organ-emboldened “Unset” adds Renaissance sensuality to the mix before breaking into a controlled wildness,”Olav Ål” delivers a folk-tinged rock ‘n’ roll knees-up. More so, there’s a Trans-European ring to the record, what with the riffs of “Det Siste Stikk” resolving in Iberian flow which is stricken with wah-wah – so much for Norwegian coldness. Flawed, if wonderful, relic.
***4/5
