The Sewergrooves - Rock 'N' Roll Receiver
Wild Kingdom - KING032CDPROMO - 2006
By Brandon Strader
The Sewergrooves are here with
Rock 'n' Roll Receiver to prove that brutal death metal isn't the only brilliant music flowing out of this 'music capital of the world' known as Sweden. From Stockholm,
The Sewergrooves perform a playful concoction of classic rock 'n' roll. The guitar tone has a weak, muffled tone, and the vocals are effortless and spunky. The guys are now several albums into their career, and it really doesn't show that much. The music is pretty straightforward rock 'n' roll for fans of
The Ramones and the like.
The chorus on "This Time I Know" is awesome with the guitar solo overtop, and the breakdown that follows the second chorus is sweet. After that breakdown, they begin playing everything harder and harder until they've spun into an all-out rockin' frenzy, but then finish the song off by repeating the chorus part again. The title track breaks out with some smooth legato riffing with a trippy cymbal performance. The cymbals are mixed too low throughout the whole album, and the bass drum lacks punch and the kit overall is pretty quiet, but it sounds natural which is always good. Some more volume really could have helped out the sound, though. The tone on the guitar leads is reminiscent of those old rock 'n' roll bands, but they didn't quite get it right so it makes the guitars sound cheap like plugging a $100 fender into a small amp in your living room. "Remember Everything" has a faster tempo verse with some cool solo work that leads up into a chorus that is extremely melodic compared to the other songs. I think there's even some falsetto vocal work in there. The album seems to all run together after a few songs, and it all starts to sound way too similar, but the songwriting is pretty good here and there.
I'm going to continue to know Sweden for it's brutal death metal, and Stockholm for such brilliant bands as
Opeth, because
Rock 'N' Roll Receiver is fun if you're looking for a rockin' time but it doesn't really have any long-term benefits. It gets old pretty fast, like half way through, and the whole album is only 33 minutes long with each song being about 3 and a half minutes long. That's right, 10 songs. If you like rock 'n' roll, you should definitely check this out. It's not like American classic rock 'n' roll bands, but I suppose this is what Swedish rock 'n' roll sounds like. I have no knowledge of the history of Swedish rock 'n' roll, so I'll leave it right there. If you like rock 'n' roll and are about to light up a little green leaf, then
Rock 'N' Roll Receiver may be your bag.
6.5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official The Sewergrooves Website
Official Wild Kingdom Website
