As far as I'm concerned, any band described as a "velvet draped hand grenade" deserves a second look. The group in question is Norway's WE. The stoner rock crew (and I use that term loosely!)have been around for nearly a decade, and, having achieved recognition in their homeland, are now seeking to take their psychedelic retro-rock further afield.

Having toured with Queens Of The Stone Age and another Kyuss offshoot, Masters Of Reality, WE defiantly have stoner roots. However, they have seized their influences and proceeded off in a different direction; their sound is somewhat comparable to other '70s garage rock revival groups such as The Datsuns or fellow Scandinavians The Hives but WE sound much more authentic in their efforts. Essentially they are a Beatles / Stones super-group on acid. Lots of acid.

It should not, however be assumed that WE's music isn't accessible. Their songs are infectiously tuneful, big on melody, and most definitely faithful to all that is rock and roll. Kickin' is a very memorable little number which you will find yourself humming along to for days, despite the immensely plagiarised Brown Sugar introduction.

Last track Freak Capital Of the Universe makes up one-third of the 30-minute mini-album's length, and is a blizzard of tripped-out solos and space-like samples, strangely reminiscent of stoner legends Spiritual Beggars. The epic number is drawn out like a space shuttle taking off in slow motion; awesomely powerful guitar and bass roll along in true "doom" fashion before the song transcends into a very stoned jam with guitar licks and drum rolls a plenty, reaching climax after climax for 13 and a half minutes!

As if to prove that there is most definitely such a thing as "too many drugs", the inlay notes proceed to tell a fantasy (I hope!) story of "The Fall of Spaceport 22 Benfric" and "The Annals of Freakweb" (your guess is as good as mine!). Very confusing, very frightening, and very much a Norwegian thing I guess!

"Light years ahead" they may be, but it looks like WE have a while to go before they are embraced by the mainstream market, at least over here. This is a shame because their catchy (if slightly left-field) sound deserves much more recognition than it will probably achieve. I have no doubt that WE would be elevated to their most effective in a live setting. With a captive audience, I can see these Norwegian druggies holding every single gaze.

  share with:  Facebook | Digg | other sites