THE HELLACOPTERS

It seems that Sweden produces mainly two types of music (stop me if I'm generalising): extreme death metal and retro garage rock. It makes you wonder whether Master of Reality and Back in the USA are the only two albums available over there. Anyway, I'll give you precisely two guesses to deduce what genre I've plumped for. Retro garage rock is the answer. Owning this album by the Hellacopters and the new compilation by hotly-hyped the Hives, reviewed here. Indeed I'm taking the rather bold step of reviewing the two almost together. Interesting fact: two of my friends have supported either band. One friend (let's call him Hughesy) played trombone for Goldblade at a German festival with the Hellacopters going on directly after whilst the other (let's call him Charlie) supported the Hives in London last year with his band Pinhole (see the links page). Right then, the Hellacopters. They are, in effect, the pet project of Nick Andersson. I think he actually used to be drummer in some Swedish death metal band like Cathedral or Emperor. Thus comparisons with the Foo Fighters may come easy. Especially as both are somewhat light-hearted bands fronted by ex-drummers from incredibly heavy-going bands. Unfortunately, the Hellacopters also suffer from the same problem of being that little bit uninteresting. They play with undeniable gusto and energy with every song a blast of rock 'n' roll energy. Unfortunately, they are just that little bit too derivative to be a great band or, indeed, for this to be a great album. I've given the Hives' album a higher rating but bear in mind it is a compilation. Perhaps if the Hellacopters released a career encompassing retrospective it would be equally as good. I do think the Hives are probably the better band, though. Still, there is plenty to admire on this album, not least the quality of the songs. Most on here, particularly the first ten or so, are all pretty good songs showing that, like Dave Grohl, Nick Andersson (or Royale as he calls himself in the sleeve-notes) has a talent for writing good songs. Unfortunately the lyrics are pretty poor throughout but then this is Sweden. The opening track "Hopeless Case of a Kid in Denial" is an excellent example. A good melody and played with plenty of passion it sounds like a great song until you realise the lyrics are about some kid who tries to act cool. Lines like "you eat tikka, I eat vindaloo" I just can't stomach (excuse the pun). Thus the stupid lyrics put me off the song a little. Still, it remains, musically at least, a fine song. Similarly, the second song "Baby Borderline" is played hard and fast and shows that, Swedish culture aside, these boys still know how to rock. Thankfully I've no idea what the lyrics are about. "You're Too Good (to Me Baby)" is a stand out track effectively on the basis of variety as it features the excellent use of female backing singers for the bridge and chorus. And it's not even written by Andersson. A fine song. The best song on here, and the one that prompted me to buy the album, is almost certainly "A Heart Without Home". A well written song with a good chord progression, energetic vocals and a scorching lead guitar (like many tracks on here). No matter how much you dispute the unoriginality of this album you'd be hard pushed to deny that "A Heart Without Home" isn't a great song. Speaking of unoriginality probably the worst offender is "I Wanna Touch" which is just a complete and utter rip-off of MC5's "American Ruse". Complete with the same lead fill and everything. Cheeky, to say the least, and not very good at any rate. Similarly the bridge to "Envious" is strikingly alike to a Guns n'Roses song; "Shotgun Blues", I think. And although musically utterly different, a song title of "Throw Away Heroes" is always going to draw unfavourable comparisons with Metallica's "Disposable Heroes". The ballad "No One's Gonna Do it for You" is a failed attempt to broaden the diversity of this album. It's not a terrible song but it shows them up as the rather limited band they are. Still, there's plenty of good songs I've not even mentioned, "Sometimes I Don't Know" and "Truckloads of Nothin'" for starters. On the plus side an album where the band set their stall out early on and stick to it. Unfortunately, that's also the problem in that, whilst most of the songs certainly rock, they don't rock in a new or particularly interesting manner.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk