Thunder Express

Recently, Vu sent me a couple CD’s in the mail, the first of which I’ve already talked about. The other one was by a band called Thunder Express. I admit, I was never among the people who was overly excited to see good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll return back in the earlier half of this decade. But I have to admit, this band does it surprisingly well.

Or maybe it’s not so surprising. The band was formed by Hellacopters guitarist, Robert Dahlqvist, presumably to explore a much less pop sound than The Hellacopters. And they do a pretty good job of it. Of course, there is almost nothing terribly original here, but for something like this, that’s just kind of the point. It’s just straight-up rock ‘n’ roll. Completely unpretentious and non-ironic. The sound of a band that was born thirty years too late to get in on it the first time.

My favorite tracks are “Leaving With Ease,” which has a bit of a Rolling Stones vibe to it, “Pick it Up,” with the completely flashy and over-the-top female vocals on the chorus and a beat and guitar tone that reminds me of the “Beavis and Butt-Head” theme song (in a good way), “From Pleasure to Pain,” one of the faster, louder tracks on the album, with a little bit of an early NWOBHM edge to it, and the last track, “Panic,” which is slightly evocative of Dark Side of the Moon-era Pink Floyd.

If you liked The Hellacopters, you’ll probably like this. They draw from a pretty similar pool of influences, although Thunder Express is a lot less of a power pop band and a lot more of a rock ‘n’ roll band. Robert’s vocals also sound a lot lower and more tuneful than Anders’ (of The Hellacopters). And really, I have to admit, I like this a little better than I like The Hellacopters, although I’m only slightly familiar with them. Fans of the genre will definitely want to give these guys a listen, although this probably won’t change your mind about it if you didn’t like it before.

You can listen to more at the band’s MySpace page.

–Soup