Published on Apr 9, 2004
It’s another day and we have yet another debut album from yet
another action rock band from yet another Scandinavian country.
I hate to sound so ho-hum in setting the table for my review of
the Carburetors’
Pain is Temporary * Glory is Forever release but when I see
five Norwegians in matching black mechanic workshirts looking
decidedly German while sporting crewcuts and Ray-Ban’s, it’s as if
I know what to expect before I even crack the jewel case to hear
the material.
Never mind the “pain” and “glory” message in the album title,
either. Or, the fact that the band’s name is synonymous with the
muscle car iconography of the 1970’s era that this genre of music
was commonly known to rear. One can’t knowingly want to be so come
off sounding so obviously derivative, right?
After listening to the album, I have some simple thoughts.
How long are C-G-D-G chord progressions going to be cool and how
long will it be before audiences tire of hearing bands that
repeatedly develop choruses consisting of call and response grunts
built around such cheesy machismo statements as “God Damn (It’s
Good to be Right)” or “Frontpage Babe”?
Well, this all leads me to a more succinct critique of
Pain is Temporary * Glory is Forever. The songwriting is
weak and the music, save a random guitar solo from Stian Krogh and
Kai Kidd, is largely uninspiring due in large part to the fact that
vocalist, Eddie Guz has as much range as Lemmy Kilmister.
Maybe I’m being a bit to harsh. Rock n’ roll in its purest form
was never meant to be overly complex. I know this and I’ll aim to
deflect any criticism by just saying that what the Carburetors have
accomplished with
Pain is Temporary * Glory is Forever has been done a
thousand times before, just better.
But, I can say optimistically that the Carburetors perform with
the attitude to match their namesake. It can be likened to a 455
horsepower engine that’s stuck in first gear when the throttle
should be ratcheted up a few gears higher.
Take that for what it’s worth.