Madrugada
Ready EP
Virgin Records Norway

Having gone through some turbulent times, ending in the replacement of Jon Lauvland with Simen Vangen, a jazz (!) drummer, Madrugada are back in the limelight with this EP release. And they seem ready indeed. With the national press at their feet, feeding us the story of a new and improved Madrugada. And they have gone punk, they tell us.

Well, Madrugada is not a punk band, although there probably are some punk elements in their musical attitude. "Ready" is aggressive, dirty, in-your-face rock'n'roll at its best. Iggy Pop is an obvious reference. This song is also included on Grit, the new Madrugada CD that is released today (visit us next moon for our review of that). "Zebra" is completely different, a nice little psychedelic thing. The vocals are obscured through studio trickery, but that doesn't prevent the hummable melody from instantly sticking to the brain. Sadly, this may be the last song by Madrugada featuring Lauvland. But it's a wonderful goodbye! "I Feel Hard" is nitty-gritty acid blues, with a guitar sound that could cut bricks, and it hits where it aims. Perhaps a future live favorite? "Movin' Up" is built around a square bass riff, with psycho guitars to even things out. A little too repetitive perhaps, but then again, the band now seem to love the monotonous and simple, and they do not seem afraid to challenge their audience with very basic arrangements, "to-the-bone", to speek Madrugadaish. Gone are the lush panorama soundscapes from Industrial Silence, but "Norwegian Hammerworks Corp." from that one pointed in this more demanding direction, as did several of the songs on their second CD, The Nightly Disease. It will be interesting to see what a former jazz drummer can add to the mix. Perhaps a musical counterweight to the minimalism? Come Grit - I'm ready!

Copyright © 2002 Knut Tore Breivik