Nothing But Destruction in the Air---Greenland Whalefishers

As we approach St Pat's day, I feel obligated to mention a great CeltPunk band I've been listening to a lot the past 2 weeks.

Greenland Whalefishers--Songs from the Bunker. Awesome record by a bunch of Norwegians from Bergen. There's a lot to like here, trust me. They are like a heavier rougher Pogues, and Arvid the vocalist sounds like a cross between Joe Strummer and Popeye. They sing with guts and passion. It's difficult to believe that these guys are not from the old sod!





One of things that I especially like about these guys is that they chart their own territory. While the album works in the same tradition that the Pogues do, they do not pay a lot of obeisance to the past. When you hear the subject matter, it is clearly set in the present day, and not in Galway or Dublin or Boston, but in their hometown. And as an added bonus the songs have that dark Scandinavian sensibility present in the old Sagas and carried forward to the 21st Century.







But Songs from the Bunker never fails to deliver, and despite the heavy lyrics, the album is a lot of rich, thrashy fun. After hearing this album, its clear they are a group that would be fantastic live.
I don't really have that much more to say about these guys, except that they make a perfect soundtrack for St Patty's Day shenanigans. Songs From the Bunker is the only disc I have by these guys and I recommend it wholeheartedly. It also seems to be the most easy to obtain, though a lot of their music can be readily downloaded. Trust me, if you like Celtic music like DropKick Murphys, The Tossers, and of course, The Pogues, this will not disappoint.

Slainte!

The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer!----Part 8--Vibeke Saugestad!!!

The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is Singing Loud for All to Hear!

Vibeke Saugestad--Christmas is Calling Me Home

And so it goes....Madrugada Live at Tralfamadore

I'm listening to a pretty nice live album from the Norwegian band Madrugada. Live from Tralfamadore is an arena rock album that is actually stitched together from various concerts in 2003 and 2005. It's mixed as though it was played one hot night, and Tralfamadore is not an obscure seaport on the northwest coast of Norway. In reality it is a planet that exists only in the inspired imagination of American author Kurt Vonnegut.

Or at least that is what the Tralfamadorians would want you to believe....

Madrugada is a band that probably most Americans don't know about, but they were pretty huge in Norway, I gather. They remind me of groups like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Catherine Wheel, Mark Lanegan and The Gun Club. Sadly, the band is no more, as guitarist Robert Burås died way too young in 2007. But Live At Tralfamadore is a nice epitaph to a very worthy European rock band.

Sivert Hoyem: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Robert S Burås: Guitar
Frode Jacobsen: Bass and Guitar
Erland Dahlen: Drums (on this album)
Simen Vangen: Drums (2003 tracks)

From the very moment I heard the ringing stinging chords opening the first song Hard to Come Back, I knew this would be good. Sivert Hoyem is an affecting vocalist with a deep rich voice, and a lot of presence. I can only imagine the confidence and ease he exhibits on the ballad Majesty. To get up and sing in front of thousands of people in an arena. It must be exhilarating and also terrifying. Reminiscent to me of Adam and Eve era Catherine Wheel. Burås was simply an excellent guitarist--when I hear him play it sounds like he made everybody else a little better. The sound quality is terrific throughout; in the quietest moments it sounds like the crowd is so rapt, that noone can make a sound.





But the greater body of the music here is in the territory of the Bad Seeds. Songs like Black Mambo and the exemplary bluesy dirge You Better Leave are testaments to this. Most of the music performed here are originals, but they do a nice cover of the Gun Club's cowpunk tune Mother of Earth with Kid Congo Powers guesting, and the old traditional standard Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.

I love the very affecting sad but sarcastic lyrics of Strange Colour Blue.

Oh everybody's sleeping now
An industrial silence singing
And the rain will keep hammering down
from overhead
Now there's a blue, blue strange colour blue
Let me dream of me and you
Oh how the rain keeps hammering down
Pour.

If forced to choose,  my favorite song would be the anthemic The Kids are On High Street--"they take your photograph, you come into existence". The hard rocking Seven Seconds is also a high energy highlight. But all and all this album is quite strong. I managed to pick up the deluxe version that had 4 extra songs on it. The version of Blood Shot Adult Commitment made the purchase worthwhile for me, and the Lift Me single included was a decent duet. I think that the song was a big hit in the Motherland, though not very typical of the band's musical output.

In addition to the studio albums, Robert Burås had a side band called My Midnight Creeps that released two albums. Sivert Hoyim has released a few solos records and in 2010 recorded a song for the Norwegian Refugee Council titled Prisoner of the Road to help raise awareness of the plight of displaced people around the world. Good man.

And the musical ability backs up the humanitarianism. So give Madrugada a listen. If you like these other guys I've compared them to, I'm sure you'll want to hear their entire output.

One More For The Road--I'm Crying Icicles Instead of Tears! Vibeke Saugestad!!

Happy Holidays! One more for the road. Here's Vibeke from her fantastic Christmas Ep.



5 New original Christmas classics on one great ep on Pop Detective Records.

Going Back To Norway, Where Nothing Can Go Wrong--Yum Yums' Sweetest Candy

The Yum Yums from Moss, Norway are without question the greatest pop punk band ever. It was like impossible for me to find the Singles N Stuff singles and stuff Cd, a collection of their impossible-to-get early singles and more. Most of their music was released in small quantities on labels in Japan, Germany, and in their native land. It was incomprehensible to me that getting this great music would require a holy grail quest, or a treasure map. Eventually I was able to nab a copy, but it cost me a bit of heavy money. I am happy to let fans of pop punk that a great collection of their material (that has a lot of the Singles n Stuff material) is available for $10 through Kid Tested Records under the title Sweetest Candy. I don't have that record, so my references are to Singles N Stuff released on Germany's Screaming Apple records.

The Yum-Yums are an infectiously unholy blending of New York's finest, The Ramones, and the Power Pop of bands like The Knack, The Plimsouls, Paul Collins Beat. Bubblepunk? I have never heard a more harmonious supersonic racket. Some people think the songs are samey, but that's only because they are all perfect. Their music is a big hit in Norway. And when you hear songs like Girls Like That, Crazy Over You, Valerie, Be My Baby and Need Your Love Tonight you can see why. What I can't see is why they are so unknown on our side of the Atlantic.

The Yum-Yums on these recordings are Morton Henriksen, vocals and guitar; John Martinsen, guitar; Stig Amundsen, bass and vocal; Tomas Dahl, drums. In addition to their originals, there are uptempo cover versions of pop songs here. They perform Walking Out On Love and three other songs by The Paul Collins Beat, who are a musical idols to the band. In fact, The Yum-Yums have even been a backing band for Paul Collins on occasion. Additionally there are supercharged versions of 60's bubble gum tunes, like Chewy Chewy and Wig Wam Bam. I find that Scandinavian punk bands have a much greater appreciation of the Ramone's Phil Spector period than their American cousins, and that is evident in songs like Be With Me and Be My Baby. There is even do one song in Norwegian, a cover song entitled Kule Damer.

The Current Lineup

The Kid Tested record has some different songs on it, and it may very well be a stronger collection, as the current label had a much larger discography to choose from. And 10 bucks for 25 songs is a great deal, it certainly beats the prices I've seen for out of print imports. And if you love poppy punk rock, this is the real stuff. You will be amazed by the greatness here. Their most recent album, the very nice Whatever Rhymes With Baby is also readily available from Pop Detective Records.

I noticed on their web site that they are available for bookings for your private parties for all occasions. So here's my advice to you. If you are one of the international jet setting have-mores and are celebrating a wedding, bar mitzvah, sweet 16 party, your inheritance check from Aunt Tilly, don't hire The Rolling Stones, Phil Collins, or Vanilla Ice to perform. All the fat cats did that and its getting  really passe. So take that ill-gotten loot and hire these guys!

We Could All Use A Christmas Cooldown!!! Vibeke Saugestad

It's so hot in most of this great country of ours, maybe a little Christmas magic will help us get through this latest heat wave. And Christmas is only another 5 months away, and what better way to help save our economy than to invest in a worthy Yuletide disc.

Vibeke Saugestad, Norwegian singer and keyboard player for The Yum-Yums (The Ramones of power pop), put out a wonderful Xmas ep a few years ago on PopDetective Records. So often people put out Christmas records and in many cases its merely a bunch of versions (fairly straight or revved up) of traditional songs, & that can be OK, or even great! And if you love Marilyn Manson, you wouldn't be able to do without his holiday tribute, whether it was good (or evil) enough to merit a purchase. But Vibeke actually put out an ep with 5 excellent celebratory Christmas originals that sound like they could have been high-octane versions of old classics! Definitely a worthy addition to the oeuvre. The disc starts out with a bang with the great pop tune "I must have been so good". After that follows "mistletoe kissing" & "jingle jangle Christmas", faster high charged tunes. The 4th song A Christmas Carol  (for losers in love) follows much in the vein of the opening track. The ep ends beautifully with a winsome ballad, Christmas is calling me home. As far as Christmas music goes this gets a rating of 5 golden rings.

Vibeke is great--check out some videos of hers on YouTube & her terrific non-denominational full length World Famous Hat Trick. She has two other albums Overdrive & Into the Shimmering that were released in her native country, but I haven't been able to find them anywhere. Also check out the Yum-Yums--they have a record Whatever Rhymes with Baby on Popdetective & also a cheap compilation of their earlier music,  Sweetest Candy, out on Kid Tested Records.