Scandinavian Singles

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Scandinavian Singles

BACKSTREET GIRLS
Monster In My Cadillac/Loaded
Another band of Norwegians demonstrates that they’ve figured out how to play this Ramones style rhythm-heavy rock and roll. This one has a really satisfying guitar crunch and solid Rocket To Russia backbeat, but the vocals are a little too non-descript for this to get the highest possible scores. The flip is more like it, with some Chuck Berry riffing over the top and a vocal that sounds like the singer is into it.

THE BASEMENT BRATS
It’s All Right/Happy Girl
Quite a pleasure to hear Norway’s Basement Brats show that Ole Olsen was wrong (see the feature last issue) and that the Brats can still rock with the best of them even without him fronting them. Ole was a one in a million singer, while his replacement Egal Pinas is only one in a thousand, but when the band is kicking posterior as it does on the A-side, that’s good enough. The flip is more poppy but still very strong Vacant Lot styled punk pop. Cool.

THE BASEMENT BRATS
Shining Down/Disconnected Love/It's Not The Right Time (Sneakers)
It's All Right/Happy Girl (Rapid Pulse)
Take Care/Trashman (Screaming Apple)
Last issue of BTO reviewed their two great CDs, and now here’s a clutch of new singles. "Shining Down" features original singer OLE OLSEN, but the other two are from after he was booted from the group. Olsen’s great singing makes this first single a delight, but this band plays this early Ramones styled punk pop so well that even with a merely adequate singer like EGIL PINAS stepping up to the mike the Brats still are a lot of fun. "It’s All Right" has blistering rough production and is a typical sub 2 minute Brat-blast that just screams. "Take Care" is slower than the others but still bristles with an edgy energy. The bonus is that on all three of these the flips could also be A sides. Can’t say enough about this band.

BASEMENT BRATS
I Hate It/Stupid (Sneakers)
One Night Bitch (No Tomorrow)
It’s not right, I’ll tell you. Everytime I find a new favorite band, it seems like either they decide to get Eno to produce them or they split up. Norway’s Basement Brats have chosen the latter route to termination, and leave these two terrific singles as the final evidence that they existed. The basic concept here is Ramones/Devil Dogs styled punk rock, but it’s the execution that matters so much…these guys just have a wonderful flare for teenaged hormone overdosed lyrics and 3 chord monster riffing. It’s hard to put into words what it is that separated these guys from the pack, but you’ll understand when you hear it.

THE WONDERFOOLS
Get Real/Spanish Dream/Zito (Sneakers)
These guys are big fans of Australia’s Hard-Ons, and this single could almost be an outtake from that band’s early days, right down to the "Girl In The Sweater" woah-oh backing vocals. The A side is frantically paced but bristling with pop hooks and a rough and raw production, while on the flip they slow down to a moderate rocking tempo. These 3 tracks are a real treat. (Almgrensv. 9A, 1621 Gressvik, Norway)