Band:
Nicke Andersson - Vocals & Guitar
Tobias Egge - Guitar & Vocals
Dolf De Borst - Bass & Vocals
Tomas Ericksson - Drums & Vocals
Discography:
Imperial State Electric (2010)
Guests:
Info
Produced & engineered by Nicke Andersson
Mastered by Henke Jonsson at Masters of Audio
Recorded at Deuce Recording Studios (Stockholm)
Released 29/4-2011
Reviewed 18/5-2011
Links:
imperialstateelectric.se
myspace
Imperial State Electric do music in the way they did it in the 50’s or 60’s as authentic that it’s almost spooky how alike they are to the music that really came back then. The music, vocals, sound quality and the whole overall production is screaming mid-20th century and I actually believe that if this band had come in that era, they would have had a big chance to be as big as Beach Boys or Bill Haley and His Comets. Unfortunately for them, that was not the case. Instead they’re trying to do that music today and some might think that is clever since they’re quite alone with doing this kind of music today. The question though is if there is someone that actually want this kind of music to come today.
I think that question is easy to answer – surely there is people that want more of this music, all though it’s probably not too many of them. But what say it can’t be more? That takes us to the next question – why do we need more music like this? Obviously, it’s been repeated and released for decades and the number of albums within the genre are plenty. No one can say they’ve heard it all, so why do we need more of it? Well, it doesn’t matter how much there is, you always have the right to do more of it if you want. But no question about it you’ll find it harder to do something well when there is so much of it already.
So how do Imperial State Electric manage it? I think well, they do sound better than most other bands that tries to sound this old because it really sound old for real. They are not just another band imitating an old sound, which I think is what people want when they search for the sound of the olden days – that it sounds like it came back in the days when this sound was normal. If that’s what you want, the sound of the 50’s and 60’s – then Imperial State Electric is absolutely right. It’s a band that takes you back to that time from today, just like a time machine.
’In Concert!’ ends in a humble 19 minutes, but after hearing those 19 minutes 19 times, it’s fair to say these 19 minutes stand being played many times within a short period of time. This is way better than last year’s self-titled album and I couldn’t care less about the fact that the songs aren’t brand new – they play an old kind of music. Who cares how new the songs are then? Vintage is vintage, no one ask what year the pants were sewn so why should you start with the songs?
This album does what man has dreamt of for so long – it takes you back in time and then back to present time as soon as the 19 minutes are over. I don’t believe Imperial State Electric can start a new wave of 50’s and 60’s rock music, at least not with this EP, but whether it actually will be that way or not is something only the future can tell. unless this band can take us in to the future with the next album, but I guess they’ll have to play somewhat faster than this to be able to take us there.
HHHHHHH
