Various "Pushing Scandinavian Rock To The Man! Volume 3" 2002(comp)***

Now why the hell would you be interested in an album entitled Pushing Scandinavian Rock To The Man! Volume 3? Have you even heard Volume 1 or 2? I have an excuse for buying it: I used to suffer from a compulsive buying disorder which compelled me to get any garage record or CD I could get my hands on for a reasonable price. I would then blast it on my car player while driving to work and fantasize I could part, Moses-like, the slow-moving sea of cars around me and step on the gas to the tune of earsplitting rock'n'roll. I have therefore a whole slew of neo-garage compilations, from the most essential (I take it you all have Voxx's Battle Of The Garages Volume 1, 2, 3 and 4?) to the most specific like this one, catering to a geographical corner of a niche of a subgenre. Don't be deceived by the Blaxploitation cover art: there's no funk here, the music moves strictly between Sonics-style 60's garage and Stooges/MC5 hi-energy rock'n'roll, with a dash of surf and punk. The cover art is a reference to the name of the Danish label Bad Afro (there has to be a funny story behind that name) for which this compilation presumably acts as a sampler. The timing of its release couldn't have been better: Garage rock was back in vogue thanks to the commercial success of The Strokes, while the British music press was waxing lyrical about a Scandinavian garage band called The Hives. But despite the good timing and their apparent chops, none of these bands managed to follow The Hives into international success. Many of their albums did find their way to my collection, though, thanks to my aforementioned affliction. This is how I know that The Royal Beat Conspiracy's Standells/Electric Prunes tribute "Try Me" is the gem in an otherwise unremarkable record, or that Baby Woodrose is a remarkably productive group reminiscent of, but not comparable to, The Fuzztones and Monster Magnet. Their track "Never Coming Back" borrows heavily from The Moving Sidewalks' classic "99th Floor". Who Cares? It rocks, doesn't it? Other bands playing Nuggets/Pebbles 60's pastiche include Stockholm's The Maggots and Oslo's Launderettes who give a female twist to The Human Beinz's "Nobody But Me". The other girls here are Helsinki's Thee Ultra Bimboos with a dirtier sound that reminds me of The Pandoras. Their compatriots Flaming Sideburns sing, for some reason, the verses in Spanish and chorus in English. The Defectors offer more 60's style Farfisa sounds, The Mutants instrumental surf, and Vegas V.I.P. a cool exotica/surf piece with nice sax. The rest of the bands adopt a harder sound: The Chronics, On Trial, Species, and Flaming Sideburns all play MC5/Radio Birdman-like hi-energy rock, Sweatmaster sound a bit like The Dirtbombs, while The Borderlines and Burnouts are more punk rock a la Hives. All in all this is a cool bunch of songs from a region with a penchant for loud and dirty rock'n'roll (think Nomads, Hellacopters, Turbonegro etc). See? you did have a reason to check this out after all!

**** for I Am A Demon And I Love Rock N' Roll(Sweatmaster), Try Me(The Royal Beat Conspiracy), Nightrider(Vegas V.I.P.), Nobody But Me(The Launderettes), Leave Me Alone(The Maggots), The Flaming Sideburns(Blow The Roof)

*** for Never Coming Back(Baby Woodrose), Slippin' And Slidin'(The Chronics), Higher(On Trial), Ram It Up(Species), Come On, Hold On(The Borderlines), Kung Fu(The Mutants), You Lose (The Burnouts), Live To See Your Face Again(The Defectors), No Man's No Good/Pms 666 (Thee Ultra Bimboos)

Leningrad Cowboys "Go Wild" 1988-1997 (2000 comp)***

What do The Rutles, Spinal Tap, Blues Brothers and Leningrad Cowboys have in common? They were all fictional bands created for the needs of a musical comedy film, but they subsequently took on a life of their own, making records, touring the world and massing up TV appearances. Of all those bands, the Leningrad Cowboys carried the joke the furthest: They've recorded 10 albums in the space of 30 years - still going strong, 25 years after the city of Leningrad changed its name back to Saint Petersburg. Of course they never did come from Russia - they came from its icy Western neighbor, Finland. At least both countries make great vodka and, as we all know, vodka -much like rock'n'roll- connects people, enables communication beyond linguistic and political barriers and provides inspiration. Maybe it even inspired Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki to make a movie about a ridiculous-looking bunch of inept Siberian rockers seeking in the U.S. the success that eluded them at home. As stars of his movie, he chose the members of the Finnish rock band Sleepy Sleepers, who inhabited their roles so completely they transmogrified to the band they were supposed to parody. "Go Wild" is a German compilation culled from their first 4 albums, starting with the soundtrack of Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989). A tongue-in-cheek but definitely rocking version of "Born To Be Wild" opens the CD, while we also get some more songs from the film in diverse styles: rockabilly on "That's Alright", salsa on "Desconsolado", Tex-Mex country on "Chasing The Light" and funk on "Rocky VI (Short Film)".

From their second effort We Cum from Brooklyn (1992), we get "Sally Is Something Else", "Fat Bob Dollop" and "I'm Gonna Roll", all decent punk-rockers with ska and soul touches. There are also two songs from Mongolian Barbeque (1997), a parody of the Eurythmics' "There Must Be An Angel" and a remix of their version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama". Too bad they didn't include the original from 1994's Happy Together album. Recorded together with The Alexandrov Red Army Choir in what proves to be a genius pairing, that album remains their finest hour. The Cowboys never slip into sheer parody, playing solid and enthusiastic garage soul versions of classic rock hits, using the world's most impressive all-male choir as mere back-up singers. This juxtaposition provides all the comedy you'll need, but above all some of the most buoyant feel-good music you're ever going to hear. In the case of the closing "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", even a genuinely emotive, almost transcendental, moment. More songs from this album include ZZTop's "Gimme All Your Lovin'", The Beach Boys' "California Girls", Motown classic "Dancing in the Street" and Wilbert Harrison's "Let's Work Together" as re-imagined by Brian Ferry. The two unlikely partners would reprise their collaboration for live CD's "Nokia Balalaika Show" and "Live In Helsinki". The latter was filmed by Aki Kaurismäki and released on DVD as "Total Balalaika Show". It really is something else, check out the clip below for a sample...

**** for Gimme All Your Lovin', California Girls, Dancing in the Street, Fat Bob Dollop, Happy Together, Let's Work Together, Knockin' On Heaven's Door

*** for Born To Be Wild, Sally Is Something Else, Desconsolado, Chasing The Light, That's Alright, I'm Gonna Roll 

** for There Must Be An Angel, Sweet Home Alabama (Stalker Mix), Rocky VI (Short Film)

Hanoi Rocks "All Those Wasted Years" 1984***

To be honest, I bought this album by mistake. Based on the tracklisting, I thought it was a Greatest Hits album - the word "Live" or date of recording isn't mentioned on the cover. What it is, is a live document of the band at its prime recorded at the small but historic London Marquee Club in December 1983. The concert was also videotaped and released on VHS tape (anyone remember those?). For those not familiar with Hanoi Rocks, they were the archetype 80's glam band, and had a crucial influence on U.S. hair metal. Bands like Guns'n'Roses, Mötley Crüe, Poison, Skid Row etc. have acknowledged their debt and so have indie bands like Manic Street Preachers and the Foo Fighters. Hanoi Rocks came from the most unlikely place for such an influential band, icy Finland. I do believe they were the very first rock band from the Scandinavian peninsula to achieve worldwide success (unless, of course, you count ABBA). They came from the punk scene and kept punk's edge and connection to early primitive rock'n'roll which they coupled with hard rock guitar solos and a transvestite look they may have borrowed by The New York Dolls but took it further and added more glamour to. One year after the recording of this album and during their triumphant first American tour, tragedy struck. During a party at Mötley Crüe's house, MC singer Vince Neil and HR drummer Razzle drove to the liquor store to get more beers. They were already drunk and got involved in an accident. When they didn't get back, other members went seeking for them, arriving just in time to see Neil getting handcuffed by the police and learn that Razzle was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He had just celebrated his 24th birthday. His bandmates were grief-stricken and decided to put an end to their band. The live album and video functioned as a perfect epitaph, the Rocks sounding tight and looking assured, singer Michael Monroe (a.k.a. Matti Fagerholm) strutting the stage like a catwalk and guitarist Andy McCoy (Antti Hulkko) doing a perfect Keith Richards imitation. Not to mention the hats - probably HR influenced Guns'n'Roses in more ways than one... The concert started off much like an 80's Ramones gig: An instrumental intro, followed by an 1-2-3-4 count and "Oriental Beat", a Ramones/Beach Boys sounding track off their 2nd album. "Back to Mystery City" is closer to the trash rockabilly/punk style of the New York Dolls and "Motorvatin'" a Creedence/Status Quo boogie. "Until I Get You" and "Don't Ever Leave Me" are melodic hard rock and "Mental Beat" a fast punk/metal number with audience joining in on the chorus. "Tragedy" and "Visitor" are fast hard rockers justifying the Guns'n'Roses comparisons and "Malibu Beach Nightmare" is surf punk with rocking sax and Wipe Out-style drums. "11th Street Kidzz" from their debut seems to merge Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes" & Sandinista-era Clash. "Taxi Driver" and "Lost In The City" sport R&B choruses, metal guitars (the former) and harmonica (the latter). "Lightnin' Bar Blues" by country songwriter Hoyt Axton has a welcome 60's air and singalong chorus and "Beer and a Cigarette" is a fast Rolling Stones/Yardbirds-style garage rocker with a blues harp solo. The album closes with a trio of covers that function as a tribute to their early influences: A fairly straightforward take of Alice Cooper's "Under My Wheels", a frantic garage punk "I Feel Alright" (Iggy and the Stooges) sporting a Doorsy middle section, and a lightning-speed version of The Yardbirds' garage nugget "Train Kept A Rollin'". Now that I think of it, it may be just as well I bought this live album instead of a Greatest Hits, as it does contain all their best songs performed in a rough no-nonsense manner and flows much better than a compilation with the inevitable differences in sound and production. Based on what I heard here, I already started collecting their individual studio albums. Style-wise they may be rooted to the 80's but, unlike their hair-metal disciples, they made timeless rock'n'roll that still sounds fresh and exciting today.

**** for Back To Mystery City, Until I Get You, Don't Never Leave Me, Malibu Beach, Lost In The City

*** for Pipeline, Oriental Beat, Motorvatin', Mental Beat, Tragedy, 11th Street Kids, Taxi-Driver, Lightning Bar Blues, Beer And A Cigarette,  Under My Wheels, Train Kept A Rollin

** for Visitor, I Feel Alright