SPIDERS (Flash Point) LP/CD
Damn, this album is as infectious as a worldwide plague. Fortunately these "plague" already exists. It is called rock 'n' roll and Sweden's SPIDERS have an excellent command of it. Everyone who owns one of their previous 10" and 7" releases knows what I'm talking about. Formed in Gothenburg in 2010, SPIDERS is moved by the spirit of the 1970's and has internalised the art of heavy, energetic rock 'n' roll. Their first full-length 'Flash Point', released by Crusher Records in October 2012, is an impressive demonstration of their power. The songwriting is in best shape and there are definitely a lot of great songs on this record making it a pleasure to listen to.
Almost each of the 9 tunes here (except for 'Above The Sky' and 'Hard To Keep True') is less than three and a half minutes in length. Only the basics folks, and it's catchy stuff. But there is still room for variety, as shown by 'Hard To Keep True' and 'Above The Sky'. While the first one seems to be influenced from The Alice Cooper Band (especially the third and fourth album comes to mind), 'Above The Sky' is perhaps the most blues-driven song and not just because of Ann-Sofie Hoyles' blues harp.
For the rest, SPIDERS uses a simple bare-bones approach that puts much emphasis on melodies that will ring in your head for years to come, at least that is what I feel and believe. Here we see again that less is sometimes more. Ann-Sofie Hoyles' powerful vocals fit excellently in the energy-loaded cuts and without her the music would lose a lot of personality. Apart of that, the band sparkles with perfect interplay and convinces with a devoted performance. Overall, I am pretty sure that fans of bands such as The Runaways or The MC5 will enjoy 'Flash Point'. For my part, I love this timeless record very much because it gets my old rock 'n' roll pulse racing. Thank you for this, SPIDERS!
(KK)