
This four-song EP was my introduction to The Teenage Idols, a Stockholm punk/garage quartet who sound like they sacked and pillaged a music store, Viking style, then set about to write the scariest, least cute tunes they could dream up. (The drums sound like someone beating a hazmat container with a pair of oars.) Obvious comparisons are the Stooges and MC5, but the Teenage Idols also revisit “Psychotic Reaction” guitar tones and are able to gear down into trippin’ bridges that do the hard-funk Hendrix thing (check out the track “Soul Power”). And forget Scandinavian reserve–front guy Halvard can scream with the best of ’em (enhanced by a judicious use of creepy reverb). Check out “Northern City,” a manic guitar rave up, where he channels Rob Tyner in a big way. Not as slick as The Hives, but rather recalling the glorious attitude of Swede garage-rock past (The Nomads), this disc is a stiff swig of aquavit.