Originally formed back in ’88, Denmark’s finest exponents of power pop released two incredible albums, Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, and Rotator, then disbanded in ’98. They reformed in 2016, and this is the second album after their reunion. Tim Christensen is a self confessed Beatles nut and that’s where the band’s name came from. If ever a band deserved some sort of world wide success – it’s these guys. The songwriting is top drawer stuff, and the production and recording is incredible.
The opening two pieces, The Ricochet which is a short atmospheric piece that leads into In The Blood – it’s as good as it gets. A fantastic track that draws you in straight away with its catchy melody and chorus and Tim’s soulful vocals. I would have bought the album for this song alone. Next track, Boy Doom, has quite a heavy groove and vibe to the song – and yet – they still manage to engulf and sing with a beautiful underlying melody. The Middle follows and starts with an echo tinged picked guitar, before the melancholic tones of Tim’s beautiful voice leads into the song properly. So much passion and feel in Tim’s voice and has the hairs on on my arms standing to attention. California Rain closes out the first side and starts with a distorted guitar riff and is very post grunge in its delivery. The thing that sets it apart from all those bands is the melody and the killer detuned middle section.
The whole of the second side is taken up by the song Amelia, which is in five parts. Epic in its conception and delivery – right from the acoustic tones of Part 1 Nothing They Do They Do For You, into the heavy grooves of Part 2 The Path Of Least Resistance, and back to the acoustics with Part 3 Lights Out and its haunting melody and vocal. We then go back to heaviness with the post rock strumming of Part 4 All Saints Are Sinners, then to the close out title track of Part 5 Alter Echo with the instrumental ending that leads into the hidden acoustic ending.
I love this band so much. If they were British or American I think they would have been huge, and it shows just how fickle the music industry can be. This is definitely the album that keeps on giving.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
