By Grouch Rating 3 Scowls Gasoline and Adrenalin
Gasoline and Adrenalin
Thursday, 09 April 2009 08:55 | 
Author: The Grouch | 
If you aren't familiar with The Rockets from Sweden take a look at my review of their album Turn It On The Rockets are a five piece that was influenced by the Guitar Rock of the 1970s. Their stuff is good. It is predictable and a bit formulated, but its also real. What I mean is you get the sense that these guys really dig it - that means a lot in my book. Take it for what it is. Hard Ass blues based rock and roll. Think Thin Lizzie or early ACDC - if Bon Scott did one thing, it was rock the world on his own terms. Back in the day ACDC was mad, bad and dangerous - everything was in 4/4 and the drums were anything but complicated nevertheless ACDC blew the roof off at their shows. Why? 1. Angus Young can play that style of guitar outrageously well. 2. Bon Scott was having a good time and didn't really care if the critics or anyone else liked it - that short little guy was huge in terms of attitude, he was one bad ass little dude who commanded the spotlight. Its Rock and Roll kids, attitude counts. Kind of along the lines of Van Halen with David Lee Roth. Eddie is a brilliant musician. Dave is a rock star.
You don't need the second to enjoy the first, but the show is a lot more fun when both are involved.
This brings me back to The Rockets from Sweden.
I like the singer's voice. He has a good front man wail to his sound. Some of the lyrics are a bit goofy, but so what. The man is writing and singing in a foreign language - his English is a LOT better than my Swedish. (I can't speak Swedish at all.) In some ways he reminds me of Michael Monroe another Scandinavian who writes and sings in English. Its good though - I like Hanoi Rocks and I like The Rockets.
The drummer is right on. You can't ask for anything more. The dude pounds. Like ACDC the guy doesn't do anything really complicated on any of the tracks I've heard - in a lot of respects that simple grind shows a lot of soul. Don't clutter it up man, just keep the band right on track. In the same way the bass player does his job. He is there giving it all some bottom. I imagine that these two guys are overlooked a lot - judging from the tracks I've heard and some photos I've seen I imagine that the front man and lead guitar get most of the attention. (Remember guys, piss off the bass player and drummer and then next thing you know you end up looking like an ass on stage.) Their rhythm section keeps the groove moving nicely.
This brings me to the guitars. The guys on guitar have it going on. This is part of the attraction of the band. On the one side you have this basic R&B influenced sound and then they unleash the guitar. The dude playing lead can rock hard! More than once I was listening to a track and thinking "OK I see where this is going. Its OK." Then the guitar steps up and lays down a screaming lick over the top of the song. I found myself smiling and thinking " There it is! That's Rock and Roll!" Well done guys.
The latest tracks I've heard are from an EP called Gasoline and Adrenaline and a single called On The Rise/65 Billion Years.
1. Gasoline and Adrenalin - 3 minutes 20 seconds - Starts with a nice blast of power chords. Some odd lyrics about racing cars and then after a verse/chorus/verse/chorus sequence followed by some distant vocals a killer lead kicks in. This makes the song in my opinion. I like it. I wish the guitar jammed a bit more. I think the solo is probably extended live - at least it should be.
2. On The Rise - more standard loud rock. The vocals are once again off in the distance. The drums, bass and rhythm guitar all play together going into the chorus. I'm waiting for the lead to kick in when I hear a cowbell keep time for a few bars with some minimal guitar around the edges then, Boom the lead. Oh yeah. The man can play. I can almost hear the singer sneer as the Axe man does his thing. I bet its really good live.
3. Sour # 3 - OK is he talking about Sour Mash Whiskey? That is pretty stock, but again I have the feeling these guys are real and they dig it. So its an OK song. THEN that lead hits. I love the walk down the guy plays as he chokes his guitar. The guitar line reminds me of Eddie Money's guitar at the beginning of the song "shakin'" The part where he pulls out that killer walk down riff. Sweet.
4. Cockpit Song - interesting guitar that plays one riff until the rest of the band kicks in. I have no idea what he is singing about. Sitting in my homemade cockpit - and I ride and I ride - I focus my homemade telescope. It doesn't matter. There are the requisite blues based leads flying around while the rhythm section keeps the song going and going and going...
5. 65 Billion Years - Starts with the drummer laying down a beat while the rhythm guitar plays some chords and someone else plays with some feedback. This song really feels like Hanoi Rocks. The music is good. One thing I don't care for much is the backing OOO OOO vocals then the lead comes in and jams - before the band hits a groove and the drummer does some cool stuff that signals a guitar solo. As always the Bass player is doing his job - giving them that rock hard bottom on which the guitar can build. The end is interesting - then oh no those OOO vocals are back. Sorry dude, I just don't dig the vocals.
3 out of 5 scowls I'd like to see their live show.