Band:
Conny Bloom - Vocals & Guitar
Andy Christell - bass
Franco Santunione - guitar
Niclas Sigevall - drums
Discography:
Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride (1990)
Groovus Maximus (1992)
Freewheelin' (1994)
Guests:
Info
Released 27/5-2011
Reviewed 28/5-2011
So, time for kick off! First out we have the song Reeferlord, the first song we get to hear from Electric Boys since 1994 when their last studio album was released (unless you've caught up on one of their live shows they've done since reuniting in 2009). The full ensemble of original band members have reunited and with this album I can't get my head around the fact that they were ever gone. They play great together, really solid as a unit and ready for the game. The entire band just roars and bubble like if it were a water bottle in a Sodastream and music groovier than a tractor tire.
The first quarter is like a game of pinball with offensive going both ways. You'll never really know what to expect from this game until it happens or where it will go because just as you thought you knew where it was going, it pulls the carpet from beneath your feet and you'll fall straight to the floor and land on your bottom. And break your tailbone. Though, you'll still be laughing because you're having so much fun as it happen. What you'll mainly get from this album is faster songs with so much groove in them that they'll pull every muscle on your body to do things you never had expected, like a puppet with strings in every muscle, controlled by your manipulator. Like a flash, three quarters of the game has gone by and the fourth gets cancelled due to bad weather, which leaves this 45 minute album with you urging for more. If you were like me and played Red Hot Chili Peppers albums until they were completely worn some ten years ago, or can burst out and sing the complete lyrics to Epic as soon as somebody hums the first tune of the bass - then you'll love this album! Especially the really funky tunes, like My Heart's Not For Sale, Father Popcorn's Magic Oysters, The House is Rockin' and Sometimes U Gotta Go Look For the Car which are really grooving! But there are all kinds of songs on this album - like Angel in an Armoured Suit that is a fast song. Ten Thousand Times Goodbye that is a ballad. Put Your Arms Around Me which almost is a traditional rock anthem. And so on...
Electric Boys are funkier than a Swedish house built in the 30's, drawn by Sven Markelius or Uno Åhrén. This is music that you'll move with and that demands big, open spaces with bare walls and big windows that takes in lots of light. Or a roof terrace or a football field (to go back to that parable). This is true! True joy to hear and true impressions to feel. Melodies without decoration, every inch used but not overdone - just made the way it is to give you the longest working usage of the space. It's an album that scream character but not screaming it out itself. It's here to work but as it's here it do so much more than just that. It breathe style and feeling with the quick guitars, heavy bass and enjoyable mixture of rhythm and melody. The distortion on the guitars makes them sound like motorcycles combined with lightsabers and I half expect to hear vocalist Conny Bloom quoting Luke Skywalker in the middle of his vocal lines.
As the third quarter ends and the referee calls of the game it doesn't matter we're one quarter short of a full game - we've witnessed one of this years best games so far and we wouldn't have the energy to sit through one more minute of it. It has it all! It goes back and forth fast and slow, with technique or straight ahead. The vocals are nice, the sound is clean and the mix is heavy and takes the album forward. I don't think it stops for a moment or becomes dull anywhere - not even for a short period of time. It's an album that delivers as promised because these 12 tracks swangs big time (Swang being the Hindu dance with dialogue and song)!
I have to admit, I think this is as great as an album can be! Immortal music that comes as close to the full seven H line as an album can without getting it. Electric Boys, this is amazing! You're like the lightsaber Luke dropped when his hand got cut off. You're like the circuits controlling R2D2. You're like the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. You're back! And you're better than I've ever heard. Thank you for the show!
HHHHHHH
