Respect The Rock

The Hellacopters/Gluecifer

White Jazz Records, 1997

http://www.hellacopters.com

REVIEW BY: Chris Harlow

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 11/18/2003

You know what they say about artists not becoming famous until they're late in life or even dead, right? Such thoughts give me the opportunity to draw the same conclusion about the marketing mastermind at White Jazz Records that thought to package two relatively obscure rock bands, the Hellacopters and Gluecifer, together on the compilation Respect the Rock back in 1997. Calling these bands relative unknowns at the time was surely a generous statement to say the least.

Well, maybe parts of Europe actually knew who the Hellacopters were, since they had come out of nowhere to claim a Swedish Grammy nomination for their debut album Supershitty to the Max. Their vocalist and lead guitarist, Nicke Andersson, had recently left his previous gig as the drummer and sometimes vocalist for the highly acclaimed (even if it was just in the underground) death-metal band Entombed, to create the Hellacopters with three of his former drum techs.

Gluecifer, on the other hand, had yet to release a full album. Sure, they had 19 Inches of Rock out in limited distribution at the time, but that was a release that was nothing more than a compilation of their first two EPs. 19 Inches of Rock barely had more copies in circulation in 1997 than the collective amount of the band's first two EPs.

Respect the Rock is a six-track sampler that proved rock wasn't dead while grunge was at the height of its popularity. Mind you, this album was also rock at its raunchiest and sweatiest form with absolutely no pretensions being made towards anything other than what was to come through the speakers. The term punk n' roll is a fitting description. That is, real attitudinal punk, not the happy slop derivative that is commonly passed off for the genre today.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

Of the three Hellacopters tracks on the album, "You are Nothin'" came billed in the liner notes as "a nasty little taster to give you an idea how fucking brilliant our forthcoming album is." The Hellacopters had yet to release their second album Payin' the Dues at this time but had slated this track to anchor that effort. As brazen as such a statement was, "You are Nothin'" is truly a sledgehammer of a track that has eventually become one of the band's staple tracks. Dregen wah-wah's his rhythm guitar parts in distorted fashion while Andersson breaks off his lead solos whenever the mood seemingly suits him on the song.

"Kick this One Slow" and "Another Place" don't stray at all from the formula of the first Hellacopters song. The two tracks are loosely controlled jam sessions that harken back to the day when the MC-5 were doing their thing. Additionally, the vocals sound as if they are channeled through a ten-foot pipe which make sense for a band rooted in a death metal past although there are enough attempts at melody to make the songs footstompers in and of themselves.

From the opening guitar riff on "Rock Throne," Biff Malibu of Gluecifer proves the stars are too easy a target to aim for as he vocalizes that he's "on the rock throne, all alone" in addition to being the "king of rock" all in one pummeling chorus line. Guitarists Raldo Useless and Captain Poon tapdance around Malibu's bravado with an equally punctuating assault. It's 110% rock and roll and as with the first Hellacopters track mentioned above, "Rock Throne" is the track for which Gluecifer has come to be known.

"Burnin' White" and "No Way" are supercharged punk n' roll tracks that are equally aggressive in leaving little doubt that maybe Gluecifer should be alone on their rock throne. Not a weak lick to be found on either track.

So even with the slight head start that the Hellacopters story had given them, history will prove that the two bands needed each other as sparring partners during the early days in order to become the heavyweights of the current Scandinavian Rock phenomena. It's not so much that aggressive rock n' roll hadn't been attempted in the past; it's just that rarely had there ever been such commitment by the bands performing the said material to come off as true masters of their craft. Singularly, each band on this disc had enough creative ideas to make a few dents on their local audiences but it took the public curiosity of two bands doing the same thing from the largely out of the way lands of Scandinavia to build a platform for greater things to come.

A clearer picture on the significance of the Respect the Rock release develops two years later as the U.S. label Man's Ruin Records expands on the idea… stay tuned.

Gluecifer Grade: A The Hellacopters Grade: A White Jazz Records Grade: A

Rating: A

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


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© 2003 Chris Harlow and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of White Jazz Records, and is used for informational purposes only.