The Hellacopters - Overdriver

 

Anyone who knows me or has read this blog knows that I have been a fanatical follower of the Hellacopters since first discovering them in the 90's - I think Payin' The Dues might already have been out. I was floored by their Detroit-styled, noise-ridden punk'n'roll, with great songs, crazed guitars and lots of attitude. They cleaned up their act some as they evolved, but always had solid songs and terrific guitar playing throughout. They split up in 2008 for a number of years before reforming and releasing Eyes of Oblivion in '22 and now this is their latest follow up.

I must admit that although I have dug pretty much everything that the band has done, these "reunion" records are not quite as great as their previous work. On "Eyes..." they had Dregen back on second guitar but due to some medical issues (as I understand it), he does not appear on this record and Nicke handles all of the lead guitar work himself - some extra rhythm guitar work is provided by the keyboardist (long time member Boba) and new bassist Rudolf de Borst (they still have original drummer Robert Eriksson, as well).

The songs are also just not as dynamic as the earlier work. Not to say that this is a bad record - it definitely still rocks powerfully - but is just not as memorable as pretty much everything that Nicke and company did previous to their split. Fans will need to pick it up, of course, but if you're just starting out discovering the Hell's, grab their earlier stuff first, for sure - Super Shitty to the Max (Swedish Grammy winning!) and Payin' the Dues are monsters!