Honest, anthemic, street-level punk rock from these Swedish stalwarts!
Don’t get us wrong – we love hearing bands that push the boundaries of what is considered to be punk, but we also love hearing bands that inject fresh vitality into old-school sounds. Swedish punk n’ roll quartet Blisterhead are a fine example of the latter; there may be no great surprises in store on ‘Where We Belong’ for those familiar with classic UK street punk or the likes of Rancid, but my goodness, they certainly know how to craft addictive tunes and play them with no little conviction.
The opening title track is a prime example of this; a tale of finding acceptance in the punk community, with an anthemic chorus straight from the school of Cock Sparrer. It could have been custom-built for yelling along with your arms around your friends when you’re a few pints of cider deep, but actually sounds pretty great to my currently-sober self too. The same could be said for much of this record, particularly ‘The Wild Ones’, ‘The Holy Alliance’ (complete with woah-ohs!) and the ode to perseverance that is ‘Wake Up’.
Another high point is ‘El Diablo’ – a short but memorable slice of rip-snorting hardcore punk, complete with brutal lyrical honesty, that shows that Blisterhead can be just as effective when they really put the pedal to the metal. Elsewhere, singer/guitarist Kim Nilsson sounds uncannily like Tim Armstrong at times on ‘Holy Moly’, and ‘Red Light’ boasts some impressive Matt Freeman-esque bass acrobatics, but ultimately both the band and their songs stand up on their own merits. As with so many of the best street punk bands, Blisterhead come across as unapologetic outsiders, and goodness knows we need more of them in this world.
Overall, it’s not quite the new ‘…And Out Come The Wolves’, but ‘Where We Belong’ is certainly proof enough that straight-up punk rock (and Scandinavian punk rock in particular) remains in rude health, both in sound and spirit. Now, gentlemen, if you fancy making your way to the UK sometime, we wouldn’t mind testing that ‘friends and cider’ theory we mentioned earlier…
‘Where We Belong is out this Friday via the brilliantly-named Sunny Bastards Records – order the vinyl HERE.
- Where We Belong
- Not The Living, Not The Dead
- Holy Moly
- The Wild One
- El Diablo
- Wake Up
- Red Light
- Cheerio To The World
- Up The Cross
- Trainwreck
- The Holy Alliance
- Fighting For Lucifer
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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