SPOT Rock Ranging from My Midnight Creeps (N) and Deltahead (S) via Mercenary to Rhonda Harris
March 28, 2007
Henrik Friis |
The entire Norwegian press saluted My Midnight Creeps - now they have been announced for SPOT.
Rock fans are guaranteed a great SPOT Festival this year. In addition to the acts that have been revealed so far, we are now happy to present a large pile of bands who one way or the other fit the rock category.
Take My Midnight Ceeps for instance; a couple of years ago the band was formed as a spare time project by the guitarists Robert Burås and Alex Kloster-Jensen from Madrugada and Richochets respectively. Back then they were called a garage rock all star band, now they come across as an unpolished, dark, and sombre, tightly knit group of an awe-inspiring calibre. The entire Norwegian press lavished praise and top marks upon their new album “Histamin”, which was released two weeks ago.
Their compatriots in The Goo Men will also be playing at SPOT. They too play garage rock, but mix it with equal shares of soul, and then they have so positive an attitude that back home they have been described as six “eplekjekke karer” (“guys sound in wind and limb”)!
The Goo Men - "eplekjekke karer" with a penchant for garage, soul and high spirits.
And now that we are talking about garage, the Danish kings of garage rock The Defectors have been added to the list. On their brand new album they embark on a guilty love affair with horror, while the girls of Cherry Overdrive – also with a new album in the bag – likewise excel in garage – and other 70s stuff.
The guys in Swedish Deltahead champion an outright filthy hybrid of rock, roots blues, punk, etc. while Danish Mercenary’s power metal puts them firmly in the very elite of Danish hard rock. And then we have On Trial – arguably the best candidates for uncompromising Danish acid rock in international top-class.
Mercenary - Danish power-metal.
Racetrack Babies is rock blackened by distortion and pop. El Ray is American-inspired surf rock. American inspiration is also important for One-eyed Mule, but here it is “alternative country” spiced up with blues and Tex-mex.
The sound of Nikolaj Nørlund’s Rhonda Harris belongs in a more thoughtful laidback, yet intense category. Last year, Rhonda Harris re-emerged with an album with songs by Townes Van Zandt and as a live band.
Another band in the indie rock department is 1 2 3 4, who excel in a melancholic yet energetic sound with British inspiration, while Entakt also belongs in this genre, but with a much more monumental and dramatic expression and with Danish lyrics.
Prins Nitram - hiding his "bad hair" on this picture, but...
Finnish Magenta Skycode also engage in grand indie rock – where Echo & The Bunnymen, meet The Cure, but with a significant electronic twist, while elongated synths colour Port Largo’s music. Also worth keeping an eye on is As In RebekkaMaria – the Lampshade singer’s side project is sparkling electronic indie pop in a playful mood.
Finally there is Prins Nitram, the one-man-army and multi-instrumentalist, who in terms of style is a mix of everything – and then some. Hard to put a label on unless you use his own description – like “A Good Day With A Bad Hair”. . ..
