Liquor and Poker Music comes back with another dose of some good, old time rock and roll in the form of another CD by The Hellacopters, the Swedish natives who have more in common with the likes of Grand Funk, Lynryd Skynryd, and Bachman, Turner, Overdrive, than they would with the likes of fellow countrymen Hammerfall, Tad Morose, Evergrey, or Dark Tranquility, to name a few. The Swedish rock and rollers prove once again that you cannot put a label on a band based on where they are from. I will be the first to admit that the first time I put this CD on without so much as reading the liner notes, I never would have thought that these guys could possibly hail from the Nordic portion of Europe. I would have thought that they hailed from the North Central US, like fellow Liquor and Poker Music artists The Dirty Americans.
Well, enough about where bands come from, and onto the music itself. In keeping with the late 60's/early 70's song format, most songs on The Hellacopters Rock & Roll Is Dead run an average of about 3 minutes in length, so they are short and to the point. The nice thing about this CD is that none of the songs are wimpy ballads, all classify as classic rockers, and not a dud among them. The overall play of the band is very tight, with good to occasionally excellent guitar playing (check out the Chuck Berry-like opening riff of "Before The Fall"). The rest of the band playing (vocals, bass, drums & keyboards) are also above average.
While this CD is not really in keeping with the times, both The Hellacopters and Liquor and Poker Music Records are to be commended for sticking to their guns and trying to bring back music that is just plain fun to listen to, and reminds 40-somethings like myself of what it was like to crank that old car stereo while driving fast with the window down on a sunny Saturday afternoon a few years back.
Track Listing
1. Before The Fall
2. Everything's On TV
3. Monkeyboy
4. No Angel To Lay Me Away
5. Bring It On Home
6. Leave It Alone
7. Murder On My Mind
8. I'm In The Band
9. Put Out The Fire
10. I Might Come See You Tonight
11. Nothing Terribly New
12. Make It Tonight
13. Time Got No Time To Wait For Me
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