THE HELLACOPTERS
High Visibility
(Psychonaut/Universal/Gearhead)
The explosion of great rock from Scandinavia has been a wonder and a pleasure to behold. While the region, especially Sweden, has produced more than its share of awesome prog, metal and pop bands in the past decade, the area is quickly becoming synonymous with high-octane, testicles-to-the-wall rock & roll, at least in the minds of connoisseurs. For the Nordic tribes at least, there's little difference between punk and classic rock, between the Sex Pistols and Black Sabbath, the Stones and the Stooges. If it's loud and sports a great guitar riff, it's rock. The list of Scandinavian bands inspired by both the MC5 and Kiss seems endless: Gluecifer, the Backyard Babies, the Demons, Turbonegro, the Peepshows, Maryslim, et fucking cetera. To say the rock scene in the frozen wastelands is healthy is an understatement.

But the best of the lot is the Hellacopters. The Stockholm-based band grew from a side project of members of the Backyard Babies and death metal monster the Entombed into a best-selling, Swedish Grammy-winning rock titan. The quintet has made inroads into the States, headlining sold-out club shows everywhere and sharing stages with Iggy Pop, Smashing Pumpkins, Beck and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They've even done a European arena tour with Kiss. Along the way they've release a trio of highly acclaimed albums, from the raw, stuck-in-the-garage Supershitty to the Max to the more polished Payin' the Dues and Grande Rock, plus a handful of EPs and an uncountable number of singles. Along the way the 'copters have consistently improved its writing skills and played out as much as possible, becoming a world-class rock & roll band in the process.

High Visibility, the band's fourth full-length record, is their best album yet, the masterpiece they've been leading up to for their entire career. There are three main reasons for the disk's excellence. The first is purely the sound of the album. With an ace production job by Swedish underground Svengali Chips K. (the Nomads, etc.) and a mix by super producer David Bianco (the Posies, the Damned, etc.), the tracks fairly leap off the disk, and the clean sound does nothing to lessen the impact of the group's high energy attack. The second reason is the songs themselves. Leader Nick Royale (né Andersson) has honed his craft with every album, polishing the melodies and progressions without diluting the power one iota. Singalong choruses and memorable hooks abound, and the combination of might meeting melody is just too damn satisfying to resist.

Which brings us to reason #3: the performance itself. The 'copters have never skimped on the energy level; this is one band that takes singular pleasure in simply rocking the fuck out. Combine that ferocity with songs of this caliber and the band is just plain unstoppable. The guitar licks from Royale and co-six stringer Robert "Strings" Dahlqvist grab by the throat and don't let go; the solos head for the top but pull just short of going over it. "A Heart Without Home," "You're Too Good (to Me Baby)" and "Hopeless Case of a Kid in Denial" rock and reel with Gibson and Fenderized fire; "No One's Gonna Do It For You" makes good use of a Stonesy acoustic riff. The rhythm section of four-stringer Kenny Håkansson and skins-pounder Robert Eriksson shifts on a dime from the subtle dynamics of "No Song Unheard" (probably the closest thing the 'copters have ever gotten to a ballad) to the full-throttle roar of "Truckloads of Nothin'." Pianist Bobby Lee Fett really comes into his own on this record; while his keyboard pounding was pushed low in the mix on previous platters, here he gets a more prominent spot, even taking a fine barrelhouse solo on the masterful "Toys and Flavors." Finally, Royale gives the vocal performance of his life. While cranky longtime fans may bemoan his decision to utilize his clearly-enunciated tone instead of the garage-punk snarl of old, his singing gives the songs the loving attention they deserve, without wimping out at all. When the band brings it all to bear on a tune like the Chuck Berry-on-speed "I Wanna Touch," the results will make you jump around all over the place, simultaneously shaking your head, singing along and playing air guitar.

Therein lies the crux of the Hellacopters' development: the balance of fine-tuned songcraft with the passion of balls-out rock & roll. While it may not endear them to hardcore punk rockers, great bands from the MC5 to the Clash to the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs can attest to the benefits of maintaining that balance. With High Visibility, the 'copters dance on the tightrope with almost disgusting ease. As a wise man once said, let there be rock. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, Thin Lizzy, Mötorhead