My little brother leant me a CD by The Soundtrack of Our Lives a band he wanted to take me to see. "It's pretty good Jev" he says to me. The album was Behind The Music, and the cover reminded me of a bunch of Pink Floyd wannabees. I reluctantly put it on, and was so impressed, I immediately went on-line and searched them out and bought everything I could find by them. I was that impressed.

Sadly I missed the concert, and I'll probably kick myself for long time. As they're supposed to be an incredible live act.

That's the way it goes sometimes.

Rock and Roll ladies and gentlemen is alive and well - in Sweden of all places.

Welcome to the Infant Freebase (©1996 Telegram Records)

Mantra Slider / Firmanent Vacation (A Soundtrack of Our Lives) / Underground Indian / Chromosome Layer / Instant Repeater '99 / Embryonic Rendezvous / Four Ages (Part II) / Grand Canaria / Endless Song / Confrontation Camp / Blow My Cool / Senior Breakdown / Bendover Babies / The Homo Habilis Blues / For Good / Magic Muslims / Rest In Piece / Retro Man / Theme From Hållö / Legend In His Own Mind

A band my little brother introduced me to a couple of months ago. He had tickets to see them in concert and I wasn't able to go to. To add insult to injury Randy Bachman one of my music idols made an appearance at the show. Ack.

Anyway based on the strength of the album he let me borrow, I snatched up their back catalog, and was very much impressed by these talented Swedes - and as a Norwegian that's conceeding an awful lot. For a debut album this is a veritable feast with 20 songs that pays homage to the sixties and sevenies. This one borrows freely from everywhere. It is a little disjointed at times, but you can hear them finding their own voice. Bendover Babies is pretty funny, and delivered with absolute sincerity. Which brings to mind their lyrics - sometimes they're pretty out there, good thing it's the music that carries these guys.

Just goes to show that Oasis isn't the only rock and roll band left in the world who knows how to rip pages out of the old songbooks.

One of the bands I was quite happy to discover this past year.

Reviewed January 3, 2003

Extended Revelation for the Psychic Weaklings of Western Civilization (©1998 Telegraph)

1: Regenesis 2: Psychomantum X2000 3: Let It Come Alive 4: Interstellar Inferiority Complex 5: Century Child 6: Safety Operation 7: Impact & Egos 8: Aqua Vera 9: From Gravity To Gold 10: So Far 11: Serpentine Age Queen 12: Mega Society 13: Black Star 14: Love Song # 3105 15: Jehovah Sunrise 16: All For Sale

Another solid album by the boys. I've listened to this one several times, and it's more atmospheric and psychedelic than some of their other stuff - it all blurs together and although there are a number of standout songs here, Black Star being the one that comes immediately to mind, with 16 songs it's hard to take in during a single sitting - if you can it's a feast for the ears.

This is good stuff, and although they may not single-handedly help resurrect rock and roll, they are doing their best to give the old beast a swift kick in the ass.

Reviewed May 2003

Gimme Five! EP (©2000 Telegram Records)

Dow Jones Syndrome / Nobrainer / It Ain't Free (Livin' In A Bubble) / James Last Experience / Play Station Bordello

Considering my fire hose exposure to the band, it’s taken me a little while to let the impact of these guys settle in. This one caught my attention right away, it has a pretty cool cover, and the songs are all uniformly great. Nothing that stands out as an obvious killer track, but they all work (Play Station Bordello less than the others) and I always play all five songs when I listen to this. Of course having said that I'll contradict myself and say that James Last Experience is the killer track that emerges after a bunch of listens (at first Dow Jones Syndrome had that distinction ... no wait, or was it It Ain't Free?).

STOOL takes retro to a new level, from the reverberated tones on the opening track to their choice of riffs these guys prove there’s plenty of life left in rock and roll. In fact if I didn’t know better I’d almost think these guys were a bunch of old farts who were getting a second shot.

One of the best rock bands I’ve discovered in a long time.

Reviewed April 2003

Behind The Music (©2001 Telegram Records)

1: Infra Riot 2: Sister Surround 3: In Someone Elses Mind 4: Mind The Gap 5: Broken Imaginary Time 6: 21st Century Rip Off 7: Tonight 8: Keep The Line Movin' 9: Nevermore 10: Independent Luxury 11: Ten Years Ahead 12: Still Aging 13: In Your Veins 14: The Flood 15: Into The Next Sun

These crunchy Swedes just keep getting better and better.

This is the album that got me into the band in the first place. They are hard to pin down musically, they mix up the late sixties, and early 70's and come out with a blend that is plain old rock and roll. It's too easy to dismiss them as derivative with no discernible style. They do have a style, it's just hard to nail to the carpet. On Behind the Music there are a bunch of great tunes, one of my favourites being Nevermore. There aren't any stinkers either, which over 15 songs is a pretty solid accomplishment. Throughout the guys pack a sonic punch, it's too bad they weren't equally skilled lyrically.

I really only have one question about the album, what's the deal with the moment of silence 38 seconds into the opening track? It's totally distracting. Anyone else have this problem? Still, a very good album, and one that I've been spinning off and on for about a year now.

It's been a while, where's the follow-up disc?

Reviewed March 8, 2004

Origin Vol. 1 (©2004 Warner Music Sweden)

1: Believe I've Found 2: Transcendental Suicide 3: Bigtime 4: Heading For A Breakdown 5: Mother One Track Mind 6: Midnight Children 7: Lone Summer Dream 8: Royal Explosion-(Part II) 9: Wheels Of Boredom 10: Borderline 11: Song For The Others 12: Age Of No Reply 13: To Somewhere Else 14: World Bank

It took a couple of years but the hairy Swedes fire back with Origins Vol. I which is very cool, in that it means in the not too distant future there is going to be a Vol. II. Taking the sure as shit formula that basically rocked my socks of on their last album they do it again. These lads are the quintessential rock band. They’re big, loud, brash, and half the time you can’t understand a word they’re saying. Even Oasis is starting to sound like these guys so how come they aren’t huge? Ebbott Lundberg is a big bear of a man with a voice to match, and he’s backed by the riff twins Ian Person and Mattias Barjed. These guys aren’t kids but they’re not a bunch of wash outs either.

Of course they aren’t above recording the occasional clunker. “Midnight Children” is so goofy and earnest it almost works – but hey – they’re doing their best working in English. When I was younger the hard rocking Swedes from Jerusalem were even goofier in their translations, so this isn’t all that bad. This album smokes, there aren’t any real chicken chokers here – this is a like a rock time machine.

This is after all a psychedelic rock experience, and considering this is clocking in at a hour, they are hitting way more than they’re missing.

Here’s hoping it’s not too long until the next one.

Reviewed November 8, 2005