Published on Apr 22, 2004
At first pass, a band with the name of the Mormones will likely
make you think they’re either religious prophets or Ramones
worshippers. A glance at the cover art of
Guide To Good And Evil might solidify both thoughts. And
while it might be hard to imagine mixing religion with music
symbolic of the counterculture, the band will let you know they
just don’t care one way or another about whether you land in heaven
or hell. At least, that’s what the good track entitled the “Mormone
Song ’bout Good ‘n Evil” tells us.
Seeming to lyrically dwell more frequently on the allure of
evil,
Guide To Good And Evil does indeed root itself on the punk
rock music formula that the Ramones fashioned back in the 70’s —
catchy melodies with innocuous lyrics. Where the Mormones succeed
in creating their own identity within such a crowded stable of four
chord Ramones copycats lies strictly within the fact that they
choose to forgo using the six-string guitar. Interesting, huh?
Considering that such sonic force comes from just two people
deserves explanation. You see, the Mormones, who hail from
Lillehammer, Norway, play their brand of punk rock as a two person
rhythm ensemble. That’s right. Drum & bass with the occasional
percussionary handclap thrown in for good measure.
What’s really compelling about Morten Mormone’s bass playing is
that the guitar is tuned in such a fashion that it allows him to
handle it just like a six string. When you realize that the opening
licks on “Fast Roads Fast Riffs” is performed solely with a bass
guitar, you’d be intuitively inclined to plop down the $12 – $15 it
takes to buy this disc and find the repeat button on the CD player.
Truly revolutionary stuff we’ve got here. It’s a lot more
interesting to hear music this way than to hear the White Stripes
duo work their guitar the other way and back to a bass sound.
Another thing that a 100% rhythm rooted punk album benefits from
is the obvious ability to create doomy notes (i.e. evil) that
resemble traces of early Black Sabbath albums. “Bring on the Gold”
or “Crazed Out Dogs on Silver Hogs” seemingly provide as good a fit
for Sabbath’s drummer, Bill Ward to pound the skins as it does for
Simen Mormone.
So, when I think about this album being as much about evil as it
is about good I find it pretty neat how the whole concept
surrounding the Mormones and their guide to good and evil comes
together.
Traditional punkers will find comfort with the tempos that
tracks like “That’s It I’m Calling The Mothership,””Backrat” and
“GTO Society” provide. These songs lack the general sludginess that
some of the doomier tracks I’ve noted offer.
Considering that two people performing just two instruments can
create such a varied sounding album,
Guide To Good And Evil is definitely worth checking out.
To view the Mormones official Web site, click
http://www.mormones.net. For more information
and to order Guide to Good and Evil
, click
http://www.trustmerecords.com/shop.htm