Hellacopters
Grande Rock
[Sub Pop]
Rating: 5.3
There's a school of psychological thought that says that the reason the
electric guitar is so popular is because it's the great American phallic
symbol-- a substitute love-pump that overpaid rock stars can stroke onstage
without going to jail. These clammy-palmed bookworms say the source of the
music world's fascination with guitar rock is that we, in some roundabout
way, get a deep voyeuristic charge out of watching Keith Richards and company
"handle their business." I don't buy it all, but as sick as it sounds, that's
the thought that kept knocking around my brain-pan as I listened to the
Hellacopters' guitar-fueled Grande Rock. And trust me, when an album
forces you to contemplate the dark, cold notion of a member of the Rolling
Stones yankin' the chain, something is terribly, terribly wrong.
Sporting a sound that's one part Yardbirds, one part Allman Brothers, and a
tiny, tiny part Clash, the Hellacopters create music that would sound at home
on a late night TV "Freedom Rock" compilation. As such, Grande Rock is
one long, Cro-Magnonly stupid guitar solo. As ridiculously crude and full of
chest-beating bravado as its name implies, Grande Rock is guitar rock
at its most brash, cocky and ballsy. Sadly, though, all of the ass-backward
qualities that killed guitar rock show up here, too, as track after mediocre
track becomes more of a single long, amazing bland piece of music than an
actual collection of songs. The tracks themselves offer the kind of moronic
predictability I'd hoped indie rock had left far behind.
Stylistically, these guys are in the black, as most of these kinds of bands
are. Rock-solid guitar work backed up by nimble keyboard playing, powerful
drum work and banshee-like vocals are what save this album from being just
another of Sub Pop's roster of forgettable "big rock" bands. See, the
Hellacopters are decent enough for what they are-- there's no frontin' that
these guys are technically accomplished musicians. This type of instrumental
mastery-- not just over the guitars mind you, but over the entire band setup--
is something these guys should be proud of. Actual musical talent is sadly
lacking in most of today's lazy-ass indie rock scene, but the Hellacopters
play the real deal.
Unfortunately, hot licks do not a good album make. Even if you can get past
the nonexistent lyrics, the repetitive song structures and the general lack
of creativity, there's a staggering lack of depth to Grande Rock that
no power chord can cover up. Listening to this album for anything other than
the guilty pleasure of listening to a man tear up his guitar string by string
is like watching porno films to score acting tips.
-Steven Byrd