Von Benzo - Self titled (2/5)

05. I’m On My Way 4:49 06. I Don’t Give A Good God Damn 3:03 07. Bad Father, Bad Son 3:06 08. Ain’t It December 3:26 09. Black Eyes On A Saturday 5:42 10. MTV Killed Rock N’ Roll 4:28 11. Medicine 3:14 12. Die Beautiful 3:56 13. Move To Detroit 2:56 14. Jona Song 3:24 15. Demolition Man 6:02

Sweden has given us some great things over the years… meatballs… Vikings… that’s all I can think of at the moment. It has also produced the likes of Arch Enemy, Opeth and Bathory when it comes to extreme metal, and then there’s the more straightforward rockin’ bands like The Hellacopters, Backyard Babies, and Europe (hey, they were pretty good when you listened past ‘The Final Countdown’). Von Benzo fit into the latter of these two camps, but don’t quite inspire in the same way.

Opener ‘And The Dead Said No’ has a very cool intro, and a lovely feeling that something spectacular is about to be unleashed; like slowly taking the lid off of a box marked ‘FREE SWEETS’. Sadly, the song is a less-than-memorable rock standard, what would be a very nice pre-chorus turning out to be the chorus itself; like looking inside the box to discover the sweets are all mint humbugs or coffee Revels. This sets a precedent for a what is largely a whole album of cannon fodder.

‘Poison’ kicks in with adrenaline-fuelled sleaze and swagger, but never escalates to what it could be, and doesn’t live up to the greatness of the Alice Cooper song with the same name, or that band who look like chicks. One may let out a giggle when vocalist Jay says ‘bitch’ at the end as the guitars fade out. Everything gets stripped down a bit for the grungy ‘Sad Dead Me’ which rolls along nonchantly, a flower blowing on the hills of the Soundgarden. Not what one would expect from a ‘pure rock ‘n’ roll’ band. ‘I’m On My Way’ starts with the sound of a motorcycle revving up (hmm, original) but then sounds more like the Proclaimers song with which it shares a title than ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ (not that there’s anything wrong with the speccy Scottish twins). Some wah wah fun is introduced on ‘I Don’t Give A Good God Damn’, but the lyrics of ‘Though you said my soul is rotten / Well if it is, I don’t give a good god damn’ sound like everything they’ve said in the last few longs and leaves the heavy metal statement of rebellion seeming a little hollow - especially when it ends with ‘bitch’ again…

And that’s the main problem with the record; it all sounds like something you’ve heard before, and when it comes to ballad ‘Bad Father, Bad Son’, probably something that was playing on afternoon radio in Asda. The musicianship is strong, and the foundations of a very good band are there, but what it ultimately produces comes across as insincere. Every typical rock idea is present, all the boxes checked, but these guys aren’t a tribute or piss-take like Steel Panther, or even Spinal Tap. ‘MTV Killed Rock N’ Roll’ is the best part; a typical statement that manages to sound comically like The B-52s’ ‘Rock Lobster’ and suspiciously like Faster Pussycat’s ‘Arizona Indian Doll’. ‘How long can we let this shit go on?’ they ask about the channel… does that include the extreme metal shows that it broadcasts on Friday nights? Either way, it is strange that a band surely in line for Nickelback’s throne are anti-MTV.

The almost NIN-esque stomp of ‘Demolition Man’ carries the album out, and is an oasis of promise in a desert of mediocrity. If you don’t like classic-sounding new music, stick with Guns N’ Roses. If you like classic-sounding new music, put this in the maybe pile.

Von Benzo is available to download at Play.com

Genre : Metal
For fans of: Bullets And Octane, Avenged Sevenfold

Article by Andy McDonald