Luna Kafé record review |
Norway - Luna Kafé - Full Moon 16 - 02/11/98
Three Norwegian Winter Singles A Norwegian jukebox this time, presenting 3 singles by bands wandering the corridors of the Norwegian underground. Get your shoes on, pick a coin from your pocket, and press to play.
This 4 song EP was released December 23rd, and it follows the same musical path as the debut LP of last spring. One-man-band The Dipsomaniacs is multi-instrumentalist Øyvind Holm (plus a couple of friends on additional bass and drums), doing home-recordings of his lo-fi pop-songs, written after listening to and being inspired by that old Liverpool band The Rutles. If you enjoy the music of, say, Superchunk-Mac and his solo-project Portastatic, this could be the thing for you. The title track is the best of the four compositions, and Mr. Holm is an exciting musician and definitely a skilled songwriter (just check out the LP). Yet, I find the "lo-fi blanket" a bit too woolly now and then, especially on side 2 of this EP. It's like we're standing outside the basement door, listening, while The Dipsomaniacs are playing downstairs. I would've preferred listening with the door wide open. (And, I'm not saying 48-track digital studio!)
Guitars, guitars, guitars! If you're interested in power-pop, check out Norways finest The Yum Yums. Earlier we've had a couple of singles (one on the Sneakers label) and a limited edition LP that also is internationally available on CD. Now they've signed to a major label and Be With Me is their first output for Universal. The title track is a bit softer than usual, less fuzz and including keyboards. The melody reminds me of The Who's Substitute and San Francisco (by Mamas & Papas?) in between. Not bad at all! The cover versions of I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (who recorded the original?) and Wig Wam Bam (by The Sweet, heroes of my youth) sounds great, too, in Yum Yums' fuzz-drenched versions. Their own I've Found Love is the weakest of the lot, standard straight-forward punky power-pop.
The Wonderfools exploit the same recipy as The Yum Yums on their (first?) 7" EP. They seem to be a hobby project of Yum Yum drummer Tomas. Get Real is the outstanding track. Simple punky pop with lots of fuzz. The remaining two songs lack the singalong potential and seem more grey and dull. But the guitarwork is superb throughout. Neither Yum Yums nor Wonderfools are breaking any bounds, you've heard it all before. It's only rock'n'roll, but don't we like it? Sneakers Records Copyright © 1998 JP Copyright © 1998 Håvard Oppøyen (The Dipsomaniacs)
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