SONG
WITH NO WORDS - Sweatmaster (Bad Afro)
Another holding action from another Bad Afro band. While soulful
garage denizens and labelmates Baby Woodrose have also issued a disc of relatively
obscure covers while their new album is in the works (see 
the
"Dropout!" review for details),
the slightly more back-to-basics Sweatmaster preceded them by a few weeks
with this EP of (mostly) other peoples' songs.
The title track is an original and pretty good stuff. too. Sweatmaster pump
out a brand of stripped-back, stop-start rock with a soulful core - not as
tighly-wound as The Hives but in a similar vein. "Song With No Words"
showcases it well. It and the slightly more rockin' "Dirty Little Things"
don't damage the band's solid track record, even the latter is a little long
in the telling. Of course, both pale next to "I Am a Demon and I Love
Rock and Roll", but that's top be expected.
The covers that follow is where the ride gets interesting. Here's where the
influences might show. And although I don't rate Sweatmasters' version of
the Misfits' "Where Eagles Dare" as highly as the one by Washington
DC's Adam West, it ain't half bad and probably the best of the covers. "Mystery"
is a poppier Wipers song that Sweatmaster also handles well.
"Talk Talk" is dirty and frenetic enough to differentiate it from
the Music Machine's fantastic original. Not better, mind you, just different.
"She Cracked" suffers from a vocal that doesn't touch JoJo's dullard
original (and reminds me that life would have been finer if Richman didn't
go on to become the original no-volume Emo Man).
Hardcore heroes Minor Threat's "I Don't Wanna Hear It" is played
straight and without embellishment. The closer "Rock in the Rain"
is a Money Mark cover (bet no-one predicted that) and is a bit of a drag.
Production smells like these eight songs were culled from demos (which they
undoubtedly were) but if you expected Stock Aitkin Waterman you're obviously
out of your head and using far too much GBH on the weekend. This EP/mini-album
is one for the fans, really, but you could do worse than become one -
The Barman
SHARP
CUT - Sweatmaster (Bad Afro)
This is yet another reason to love Bad Afro and the bands that sail in her.
Denmark's finest label does it again by unearthing the best new Scandi band
since Sweden's Savages. Scandinavia is a rich hunting ground for bands with
loud guitars and basic production values - probably moreso with the commercial
music tastemasters recently latching onto the so-called garage trend - but
it's the outfits with something different that should win your affections.
Sweatmaster are a three-piece form Finland and like countrymen (and labelmates)
the Flaming Sideburns, they have a healthy number of '60s punk albums in their
collection. Nothing unusual about that, but where Sweatmaster break from the
pack is in the all-important area of dynamics. There's nothing complicated
about their songs but they're delivered with lots of dropouts and space. In
short, Sweatmaster let the beat do the work. They mightn't win your mind with
their lyrics, but your arse will follow.
Sasu Mykkanen handles vocals as well as bass and has plenty of feeling in
his voice. Mikko Luukko has no Hendrix pretensions and is a guitarist who
knows when not to play. Matti Kallio's big backbeat swings - and you don't
need to know much more than that. Production is sharp (Ultra Bimbos and Flaming
Sideburns producer Jurgen Hendlemeir had a hand in proceedings) and while
it's a short trip (a tad under 20 minutes) it's an enjoyable one. Let's hope
Sweatmaster have enough songs for Album Number Two.
Sweatmaster are not a million miles from the Hives in musical attack, albeit
in a stripped-down form. This is their debut album and by the time you read
this the single, "I Am a Demon and I Love Rock and Roll", should
be on high rotation in the northern half of the world (influential John Peel
was giving it lots of airtime on the BBC). It's all bluster and beat, with
simple but effective keyboard tinkling filling it out.
The other cuts pale a little in comparison but that's mainly because "I
Am a Demon..." is so killer. "Well Connected", the tightly-wound
"Precious", "People" and the breakneck "Tonight"
all pack a punch that'll rattle your teeth and set you bouncing around the
room. - The Barman
1/2