Copenhagen trio like to make Noise Rock and they hit the spot with an angular post-punk explosion that often head fucks your ears but with pop music Not chart music but dark pop. ‘Session 1’ is firing from the Sonic Youth territory with plenty of surface noise which is good because as they say life has surface noise.

Its a theme carried on through the record as Mathias Bertelsen (lead vox + guitar), Anders Hvass (backing vox + baritone guitar) and Jonas Wetterslev (drums) can make a noise and not having a bass guitar and replacing it with the baritone Guitar is an original and interesting move maybe not something conventional rock music is totally ready for but on several plays this has legs.  ‘Joaquin’ has shades of Janes Addiction but the rhythm is in the Cure camp perhaps and that’s a good thing right?

‘Sail Away’ is more guitar-based pop and quite European in style I love Belgium off the wall alt-rockers Deus and Sail Away sounds inspired and qwerky.   Whilst most of the tunes are short and sharp towards the middle of the record a couple of tunes go into extended overplay with a Buzzcocks like a repetitive rolling riff on ‘Be Mine’ that is a relative of ‘Why Can’t I Touch It’ but they do and it really works and is followed by the dark brooding tones of ‘Heroine’ in its six-minute epic. It twists and turns like Sonic Youth meets a more conventional Smashing Pumpkins or Dinosaur Jnr all making as much noise as possible.  Frank Black would like this.

The songs fall back into line toward the end with the shorter tunes and the lovely ‘Morning Son’ with its simple strum and melody. ‘Noise & Romance’ is both and after many plays was an excellent joy on my ears as not everything has to beat you over the head sometimes it’s nice to be greeted with a twisted grunge-like crooked smile and we can all then go about our day.

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Author: Seb Boyd