HARDCORE SUPERSTAR 'Thank You (for
letting us be ourselves)'.
(Music For Nations)
While musicians this side of the channel currently seem content to contemplate
‘the sickness’ and their ‘pain’, over in Scandinavia
there are still legion of bands, who, thankfully, taste, and indeed the
90’s left behind. Of this Motley (ahem) little collection of grunge
survivors, Hardcore Superstar have always seemed a bit like the wannabe Backyard
Babies of the sleaze revival, be it without the fanbase or the branded sneakers.
Like its predecessor, ‘Bad Sneakers and a Pina Colada’, ‘Thank
You..’ contains some distinct nod to Dregen’s mob, (not least evident
in the piccies of Jocke on the sleeve) but there’s a far more diverse
range of influences in there too. Tracks like ‘Smoke ‘Em’
and ‘Riding with the King’are funky, bluesy sleaze, in the vein
of the Black Crowes, while elsewhere there are whiffs of the Crue, Quireboys
and Buckcherry. Whereas ‘Bad Sneakers..’ gave the impression of
a scruffy punk band produced like they were 5ive ‘Thank You..’
has been smoothed off in the all the right places, still leaving some of
the rough edges on Jocke’s cigarette-fuelled growl. A thoroughly enjoyable
record, but there are points where you get the feeling a lot of its been
ripped off the first album, or their own heroes and pasted back together
again. Good, but not totally original I
feel.
/Alison.
HARDCORE SUPERSTAR "It's
Only Rock'n'Roll".
(Gain Production)
I was curious to listen to this band often described as the new Swedish
bomb in various magazines and fanzines (they're on a bigger label now so
they get more exposure.) Well, I'm not disappointed, they play powerful
punk'n'roll with a glam dose. They grew up with GUNS'N'ROSES and the 80s
glam/sleaze wave, it's obvious. Catchy choruses, rock'n'roll played with
a furious mind, these guys do know what a good rock song is ! personally,
I think that the voice is sometimes too high-pitched but I'm beginning to
be used to it now. The lyrics offer nothing new but you just have to look
at the album title to figure out what they'll be about, there's no surprise.
All of this could make you think that HARDCORE SUPERSTAR is a quite common
band, but the most important is that they're full of freshness, I mean, they
inject a new kind of blood in older stuff and that's a great success all
things considered. This record proves that rock'n'roll is not fashion but
a state of mind. If you look for nothin' but a good time, go for it !
Laurent
