Like Rats From A Sinking Ship
We Get Along Like A House On Fire
The Perfect Hoax

Like Rats From A Sinking Ship (LRFASS) put out their debut EP, SXY SXY GSW EP, some three years ago. Now it's time for their first album. As I wrote when checking the EP: "...a full album might be a bit to exhausting. Or...?" Let's see, then, shall we?

LRFASS still is a three-piece: Timo Silvola, Remi S. Langseth and Tony Gonzalez Fredriksen. This time they've been to the most respected/beloved studios around Norway, Athletic Sound, in Halden, and they teamed up with New York City-based (he's an Englishman) producer/mixer/engineer Alex Newport, a man who's been working with acts like At The Drive-In, The Mars Volta, Omar Rodríguez-López (of At The Drive-In/The Mars Volta), The Mountain Goats, The Melvins, Two Gallants, plus-plus. He was also a member of Nottingham, England based sludge metal/hardcore combo Fudge Tunnel. Newport was keen on working with LRFASS when they approached him. And, LRFASS, yes, they're mashing around the experimental, progressive electro-hard-core musical landscapes.

I prefer LRFASS with some of their the brakes on, like on the songs "Sleep vs. Shark Week", even though the whiplash-tight "Peace, Love & Bankruptcy" is quite cool. Some of the more hardcore-screamish songs are a bit too sweaty for these ears, with a few exceptions, though. LRFASS is an extremely tight unit, many of their songs are quite ok, but I find some of them being a bit too long. That's when the 'prog' plugs in, I guess. I'm a tender soul when prog bursts. Being a band with their roots in Northern Norway (they're based in Trondheim), the only song sung in Norwegian is called "Mørketid" (the dark time of the year - wintertime here up north, with the sun gone for months). The lyrics are not the easiest to interpret, but I guess it's about getting up after going down. Most of their lyrics are on aggressive/angry side (what's this obsession with guns/shotguns, eh?), which I guess suits the temperature of the music, or the musical ingredients.

The closing "Beneath The Plastic Sun" is an epic, near 10-minute-long composition. I'm afraid it doesn't touch me, or gets under my skin. Even though it's somewhat elegant. Conclusion: if you're into the noisy, roaring, melodic hardcore crossover vibe, this might be something. I'm simply not the right potential listener.

Copyright © 2011 Håvard Oppøyen