Anyone who writes reviews is a blagger and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Do you really think we know about all the bands we review? I’m not gonna lie to you: we don’t.
I’d never heard of Upploppet until a few weeks ago. But when their record label puts this on the press pack they send out: “FFO: Turbonegro, The Sonics, Gluecifer, The Hellacopters, The Hives, The Drippers, New Bomb Turks, and other high octane acts” I’m in.
Those three letters “FFO”. For fans of. That’s me, that is. I love those bands. Let’s go, baby.
And, by the great God of Lemmy, they mean it. “State Of Mind” rips past like Nicke Andersson with his arse on fire in a blaze of riffs and filth, “Bullets” likes the idea so much it does it again – in honesty they all do, but that’s exactly what you want. It’s utterly glorious.
“I Want To Love You” doesn’t, but it fancies a knee trembler in the garage it rocks in, “Golden Eyes” might be a Hellacopters song (unless they’ve done one I’ve never heard it isn’t) and “Ibuprofen” is probably what they take to cure the hangovers.
I drive like an old lady, I’m the least rock n roll person on the planet, but “Run Like The Wind” makes me want to turn into Lewis Hamilton. That’s the power of rock n roll right there.
“Thinking Of Me” doesn’t sound like it’s a question. It’s a leather-clad boogie, nothing more, nothing less.
“Punk Rock Lead” implores you to “get in the pit, get ready to die”. I’ll leave it, but the song is ace.
“Bombay Boogie’ is a leopard skin printed soundtrack to a riot, and just when you’ve got them pegged as Evil Knievel’s favourite band, “I Came, I Saw, I Left” even starts with acoustics. Not to worry, it offers this pearl of wisdom: “if you’ve never had a one night stand, you’ll never meet the right guy”.
Sound.
Judging by the cover, there are five of them in Upploppet. They look like a leather-clad biker gang from a lost scene in Grease.
And since the late 90s when my postman was never away from my drive with whatever Scandinavian rock n roll I was obsessed with, this has been my thing.
“Road Runner”, though, even allowing for that, is exceptional. The best debut album for ages is right here.
Rating 9.5/10
