Rock är inte död, om du vet var du ska titta
In the United States, all people hear about is that rock is either dead or dying. A handful of elder statesmen still stay relevant based on previous fame alone, but little to no airtime or press is given to any new American rock bands. This new generation is largely shunned by entertainment media and major labels in favor of EDM, hip-hop and whatever shiny new sound is on the pop charts.
This is extremely frustrating given the fact that rock is alive and well literally everywhere else in the world, especially in Europe. Rock bands such as the U.K.’s Bring Me the Horizon, Sweden’s Ghost, Denmark’s Volbeat, and several groups from Finland regularly sell out massive arenas on their own continent (and in Ghost’s case, ours as well!) Europe is where all the world’s biggest rock festivals are as well, such as Wacken Open Air and Rock am Ring in Germany and Reading + Leeds in England.
There are many quality bands worth checking out in the Euro scene, but one that may fly under the radar upon first glance is Jonkoping, Sweden-based Beat City Tubeworks. They play an aggressive mix of punk, ‘90s garage rock and ‘70s classic rock, which sets them apart from the otherwise metal-oriented Swedish rock scene. They built their following based on their energetic live performances, and now they’ve just put out a new record, Top Rock.
Upon the first impression, Top Rock delivers everything the band advertises: it’s 10 hard-hitting tracks of ‘rock and roll in its true form and glory on steroids. The guitars are cranked up to 11, the vocals are raspy and powerful, and there’s nothing but pure unencumbered energy, with a hefty dose of shredding on every song. Every track channels a former great: you can hear shades of The Who (“Roadrunner”), Boston (“Ivory Wave”), Thin Lizzy (“Estranged”), Deep Purple (“Archaic Approach”), and even KISS (“Take Two of These and Call Me In The Morning”).
Occasionally the album’s sound can get slightly monotonous, as the riffs are very similar throughout, but given that the album’s sound is a great one the listener won’t mind much. They may not have much clout yet but Beat City Tubeworks have put an album out that will put American rock fans’ minds at ease, since they now know rock isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
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