Published on Oct 16, 2003
I picked
Saturday Night, Tonight We’re Gonna Have Some Fun off the
shelf today wondering if I needed to wait six more days before
giving it my first spin, but shrugged off the notion figuring that
at the very least I’d walk away knowing what I missed out on last
night. I mean, if the recent 10″ release by Stockholm’s rock unit
the Sewergrooves was anything like the band’s first album,
Songs from the Sewer, I knew I’d probably be envious of what
vocalist and lead guitarist Kurt Drackes and crew were up to.
But, before we go on, I’m going to say that I am knowingly
skipping over several of the band’s released albums in making this
Sewergrooves comparison since I’m not familiar with
Guided by Delight or
Revelation Time in their entirety. During the early days of
the band, the Sewergrooves operated as a three-piece unit; today
the band works with an added rhythm guitarist, suggesting added
complexity to their work….or so one would think.
From the opening guitar lick on “Boogie Woman,”
Saturday Night, Tonight We’re Gonna Have Some Fun settles
back into the oh-so-familiar stripped-down garage rock formula.
Where I once would have said that the Sewergrooves did Urge
Overkill a notch better than Nash Kato and his Chicago bandmates
ever did, I’m now having to proclaim that this Stockholm quartet
have added in an equal part of a Phil Lynott-less Thin Lizzy to the
mix.
Another observation I’ll make is that the guitar hooks on
Saturday Night, Tonight We’re Gonna Have Some Fun aren’t as
sharp as what I remember from past works, with the band opting for
a greater number of songs with straight-ahead chord playing. With
Packe Wahlqvist kicking in his rhythm guitar parts on this album, I
find this fact disappointing.
Without resignation, Drackes’ voice still shines as he pours out
the melodies for which he is known. Emotion abounds from his voice
and takes a dramatic turn in “No Time for Resignation” as the
upbeat tones Drackes is similarly known for are replaced by an
offering that resembles a heartfelt bluesy ballad.
And with a trancelike bass/percussion beat that Queens of the
Stone Age made popular recently on their “No One Knows” hit earlier
this year, bassist Andreas Broman and drummer Fredrik Hartelius
offer up a hearty Sewergrooves version on the track “At My Root”
and a less obvious reincarnation on “It’s Alright, Why Not…”
This backline beat gives the songs the needed swagger to make them
the two notable tracks on the album.
But, in the end, I can best equate
Saturday Night, Tonight We’re Gonna Have Some Fun to a night
out that involves a couple of 12-packs split by the need to make a
distracting beer run vs. the over-the-top keg party the title might
lead one to envy. But since we’re discussing music here and not
beer, I’m having a hard time giving this album the benefit of the
doubt.