THE HEART ATTACKS

Obviously, nothing new can be said in punk rock no matter how hard you try. However, what the Scandinavian band THE HEART ATTACKS does deserves enormous praise. They play in the traditions of old-school '70s punk rock, mixing in the melodicism of modern pop-punk, and what especially deserves mentioning -- they don't forget their roots. A very strong rock-n-roll thread runs through the album, and the musicians never lose sight of it throughout the entire disc. A number of compositions approach hardcore in their sound, and there are even traces of blues, while any hard rock fan cannot help but notice the authors' obvious love for AC/DC. And although there's nothing technically complex here -- no overloaded arrangements, compositionally everything is fairly simple -- the album still leaves a more than positive impression. What makes this work is hard to say; let's simply take this fact as an unconditional success on the part of the musicians and the producer. The latter is none other than RANCID member Lars Frederiksen, and the record was released on the Hellcat label, owned by RANCID frontman Tim Armstrong. By the way, on one of the songs, THE HEART ATTACKS' vocalist is joined by none other than Joan Jett, known for her role in the bubblegum '70s group RUNAWAYS as well as her solo career.