As part of the funk metal boom of the very early 90s, Sweden’s Electric Boys were briefly MTV stars, thanks to their singles ‘All Lips ‘n’ Hips’ and ‘Electrified’ and Bob Rock produced debut album ‘Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride’. These things never last though, and by the time of their second album, 1992’s ‘Groovus Maximus’, the band had modified their sound. They eschewed some of their earlier funk-metal tendencies and in places – on tracks like ‘Mary In The Mystery World’ especially – indulged in a few Beatles style influences. This was probably encouraged by the fact that the album was recorded in London at the now legendary Abbey Road Studios. Some fans wanting ‘Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride’ volume two were disappointed, and by the time the third Electric Boys album ‘Freewheelin’ was released in 1994, the band’s popularity had decreased even farther (especially in the UK).

The band broke up soon afterwards, with permanent fixture Conny Bloom moving on to other projects. During this time, he spent four years as a member of Hanoi Rocks as well as performing alongside The Wildhearts’ frontman Ginger in his side-band Silver Ginger 5. Following the release of a ‘best of’ album in 2009, Bloom reformed Electric Boys – with the original ‘Funk-O-Metal’ line-up (featuring bassist Andy Christell, guitarist Franco Santunione and drummer Niclas Sigevall). Live shows were played and eventually the four musicians returned to the studio.
The resulting album, ‘And Them Boys Done Swang’ is not a completely shameless return to the funk-metal grooves of 1990, though it’s probably the closest in spirit the band have ever come to recreating the magic of ‘Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride’. Across twelve cuts, they blend hard rock, blues rock and occasional Hendrix-isms with a slabs funk, creating something which sounds like a heady mix of all of their previous musical dabblings on one release.

‘Reeferlord’ combines a heavy, fast guitar riff with a blues-rock aggression on its choruses and bridges, while on the verses the band give a nod to the past with funky verses, driven by rattling bass strings. Via a shameless rock ‘n’ roll guitar solo and shouty gang vocals, there’s a feeling that Bloom and co could be over-compensating, but their brashness allows them to get away with it. The groove laden rock feel carries on through ‘My Heart is Not For Sale’, a track that owes a great debt to Aerosmith with a swaggering riff. There’s a bigger focus on rhythmic qualities than big hooks, but even so, it comes with a great riff and solo – and here, that’s all you need. The bizarrely named ‘Father Popcorn’s Magic Oysters’ (“popcorn” surely a tribute to James Brown?) pays homage to two elements of Electric Boys’ musical past. The guitar riffs are funky with a tough end sound, proving that although the funk metal concept is somewhat dated, it sounds much better without the trebly, late 80s production most of it came with at the time. Vocally though, the harmony filled chorus is far more in line with the Beatles obsessed material from ‘Groovus Maximus’. Also, if you’re looking for riffs, ‘Angel in an Armoured Suit’ has plenty of swagger (once again), alongside another solid chorus.

‘The Day The Gypsies Came to Town’ indulges the band’s blues-rock side, with a number which may suit Stevie Salas. It’s core sound comes from a circular Hendrix style riff, overlaid with a great drum shuffle which occasionally resembles Hendrix’s own ‘Manic Depression’. Despite some great, busy playing on the verses, there’s not much of a hook to be heard here, since the chorus just decends into some multi-layered voices. With a few great multi-tracked guitars and solos, it still has enough decent elements to pull it through, though. ‘Welcome To The High Times’ is a stand out, especially if the funky sounds of Electric Boys are your thing. The guitar riffs are fairly monstrous, but it’s during the verses where the magic occurs, with those big riffs giving way to staccato choppiness, gang vocals and a rattling bassline. The end result is more than reminiscent of fellow Swedes Its Alive in an aggressive mood. The solid bottom end returns for ‘Sometimes U Gotta Go Look For The Car’, a funk-jam laden with wah-wah guitars. Since it’s largely instrumental, it gives the band plenty of room to stretch out; and while the grooves are the best feature, Bloom’s blues rock soloing creeping in here and there should not be overlooked.

#‘Ten Thousand Times Goodbye’ is the closest the album gets to a ballad; it’s harmonious chorus recalls those more psychedelic parts of ‘Groovus Maximus (never the Electric Boys’ strongest work), while musically it’s fairly workmanlike, occasionally sounding like an Enuff Z’nuff cast-off – it’s the kind of stuff which filled MTV rock ballads in those days of yore… Without question, the biggest nod to the Electric Boys’ past comes from ‘Rollin Down The Road’ which, in part, turns those funk-metal grooves up to 11, brings in a horn section and delivers a decent sized punch. While the instrumental breaks are slightly reminiscent of Extreme circa 1991, the chorus takes a u-turn and is of the rather more standard rock variety, with no trace of funk whatsoever.

‘And Them Boys Done Swang’ is well produced and well played throughout, easily Electric Boys’ best offering since ‘Funk-O-Metal Capet Ride’ (although, to be fair, there’s not much competition). Absolutely drenched in attitude and retro-cool vibes, it’s the closest you’re likely to get to a follow up to Its Alive’s ‘Earthquake Visions’. A surprisingly consistent and highly recommended disc.

May 2011

According to their press release, Swiss hard rockers Skansis “caused a stir in the rock world” and gathered “rave reviews” with their first album, ‘Taking Your Chance’. In reality the “rock world” to which this band’s press release refers, is merely a relatively small neighbourhood’s worth of specialist melodic rock websites. And of course, those sites are well within their rights to get excited about whatever melodic rock comes their way, but from the outside looking in, the melodic rock community is incredibly insular – with many fans choosing not to listen to music from other genres. Even allowing for such musical narrow-mindedness, why those sites would get excited about Skansis remains a mystery.

98% of melodic rock is old school and retro, but that doesn’t necessarily make it bad. However, even though some rock acts can still sound great despite having no interest in keeping up with 21st Century trends (Coldspell, Terry Brock, Whitesnake etc), some just don’t hit the mark at all. Sadly, Skansis are one of those bands. Their second album, ‘Leaving You’ features a couple of solid riffs, such as the chug which drives ‘I Want You’, or the fast paced romp through the title cut. There are even a few noteworthy solos (the twin lead from ‘Carry On Better’ being a particular high point), but an album cannot hold listener interest on a handful of decent-ish guitar based moments. Naturally, there needs to be strong, memorable songs and a classy vocalist too – and Skansis boasts neither of these essential melodic rock qualities.

The songwriting just isn’t very good, even verging on clichéd desperation in places (“We will rock all night / not call it a day / and we won’t fade away” and “Next to mine / I want your body now / ‘Cause I don’t wanna be alone” being particularly noteworthy) and vocalist Reto Reist has a scratchy voice which makes Skansis hard to listen to for any great length of time. Raspy can be cool – look at John Fogerty, Jimmy Barnes, or even Spike from The Quireboys on his better days – but Reist just can’t muster that level of bluesy hard rock edginess. Harsh, maybe, but he sounds like someone with an absolute lack of training; a gravelly throated pub “singer” who can barely hit any good notes. There are times when that is softened by a few backing harmonies, but it makes little difference to the end badness; on the ballady numbers, the vocal style seems so misjudged it beggars belief.

The bulk of Skansis’s music takes the form of a very second division sounding Euro hard rock. There are some solid old school guitar riffs here, it’s true – but on the whole, ‘Leaving You’ is average to poor. It certainly doesn’t offer anything your more demanding melodic hard rock fan would listen to more than a couple of times, let alone spend good money on.

May 2011

The previous album by Duff McKagan’s Loaded, 2009’s ‘Sick’, was a partly enjoyable romp through a selection of trashy hard rock numbers. However, it was one of those albums which could be easily forgotten once the tunes ended. It was very much a case of enjoyable, yet ultimately, inessential listening. Duff McKagan never pretended to release thought-provoking music, but even so, a little more groove and a couple of heavier riffs might not have gone amiss. 2011’s offering, ‘The Taking’ – proposed to be the soundtrack for a ‘Slade In Flame’ and ‘Hard Day’s Night’ style film featuring the band – certainly has a much darker edge on a few numbers.

The darker approach can be heard on the opening track, ‘Lords of Abbadon’. Mike Squires delivers a grinding guitar riff, which in part, resembles some of Jon Hudson’s work on Faith No More’s swansong ‘Album of the Year’ (particularly ‘Naked In Front of The Computer’). This is joined by a solid drum part from Isaac Carpenter. Duff’s vocals are of their usual raggedy style, but are rounded out by some decent backing on a more upbeat chorus, which is incidentally one of the album’s best (for that, read one of only a few memorable ones). There are a few twin guitar moments thrown into the mix which work well and Squires’s featured solo is also great, making full use of effects pedals. The slightly threatening vibe carries through to the following number, ‘Executioner’s Song’ which crashes in with a suitably weighty riff. It has a slow pace resembling many stoner rock grooves, though without the fuzzy bottom end. Over the almost monolithic chug, McKagan stretches his vocal to his limit. The band are in great form, with Carpenter’s drum sound, once again, being particularly pleasing. ‘Your Name’ is the greatest of the harder numbers, with Mike Squires’s down-tuned riffs creating a suitably menacing atmosphere during the opening. McKagan’s vocal is sneering, which combined with the riffs would have made a decent track, but Loaded up the ante for a mid section, where Jeff Rouse plays a few great bass fills and Squires offers a fantastic old school melodic metal guitar solo.

For the rest of the album, Loaded revert to the kind of trashy hard rock which they’ve delivered previously. ‘Dead Skin’ is an upbeat hard rock number which shifts the focus away big riffs and delivers a great, upbeat vocal performance from McKagan. McKagan’s rhythm guitars are far more evident throughout, with Squires taking a step back. Similarly, ‘Indian Summer’ finds a space neatly in the hard rock pigeon hole, with slightly distorted rhythm guitars against a punchy, yet simple drum pattern. Some solid backing vocals flesh out a chorus which, after a few spins, proves to be a definite highlight. ‘King of The World’ features some solid bass work, a meaty hard rock riff and another decent-ish chorus. It’s not quite in the same league as ‘Indian Summer’, but a good performance nevertheless.

‘Cocaine’ shifts sideways from trashy hard rock, bringing in a slightly bluesy element via Squires’s vibrato filled lead work. On this kind of swaggering material, McKagan’s sometimes limited vocal style sounds far more at ease. For those who wish the blues tint had been played up a little more, the album closes with an acoustic reworking. On the acoustic version of ‘Cocaine’, Loaded fully embrace a bar room blues groove, with Squires’s lead work adding a few nice lines (no pun intended).

‘Wrecking Ball’ sounds, at first, like it may bring the listener something as good as ‘Indian Summer’ and ‘King of The World’, but aside from a good bass line and another of McKagan’s better vocals, it falls a bit flat. A better chorus certainly would have helped. Although it’s not great, it’s miles better than ‘Follow Me To Hell’, which marries a dirgy riff with a really bad vocal. It makes the sleazy moments of Loaded’s previous album sound like polished, meaningful rock music. The ugly riff could have scraped by (even if it couldn’t quite muster an enjoyable quality), but there’s something about McKagan’s vocal which pushes the ugliness a little too far.

If it’s riffs you’re after, parts of ‘The Taking’ present Duff and co at the top of their game. Riffs aren’t always enough to get by though, and there are times when Loaded could really benefit from better hooks. Like Loaded’s previous works, ‘The Taking’ is not always a consistent album, but the good parts certainly outnumber the bad…and even with their faults, this is a band which still manages to sound more vibrant and enjoyable than Velvet Revolver.

April 2011