Harmless, Blondes, and Ulrika Johnson are three things that come to mind when you mention the Swedish, another thing that should really be at the forefront of your stereotypes should be class-a punk rock. C.Aarmé are yet another band to come off the Swedish punk rock gravy train and yet again it is of a very high standard. Peoples opinions tend to be fairly divided when discussing their nations counterparts ‘The Hives’ (I personally love them) but if you can imagine their distinct sound blended with the manic diversity of ‘The Blood Brothers’ then you are close to hitting the nail on the head with C.Aarmé.
Album openers don’t come much better then the ballistic entrance ‘Gasmask’ gives us and is perfect foil for what is to come. ‘Tu Puta Mi Casa’ is slightly less obvious but still maintains a high standard and is the first real chance to appreciate the superb vocals of Jessie Garon while ‘Visions’ is a foot stomper to get any listener tapping away. ‘What’s the problem Mussolini’ is another that maintains strong melodies throughout and ‘Aimless’ is frenetic throughout without sounding like it is trying to hard.
Tracks such as ‘O’Neill Oh No’ and ‘Moron’ provide only the slightest of disappointments but of all the fifteen tracks on show, to keep the bar raised so high is certainly impressive and a task they seem to maintain with ease.‘It Must Hurt Now’ and ‘No Gracias’ maintain these standards as yet more mayhem ensues with the music being played to perfection while the likes of ‘Baise Moi’ is the perfect fodder for the vocals of Garon to excel in once again. ‘The Gag’ is a cacophony of everything you have heard on the album thus far while it ends with ‘Total Trash’ and ‘I am a Princess’ which once again both don’t fail in exciting the eardrum.
I have found myself repeating this statement a lot lately, but C.Aarmé are one of the most exciting bands I have heard in a long time and this will certainly be sticking around in my CD player for weeks to come, and with the backing of one of the most underrated labels around in Burning Heart they should go along way to becoming one of the flagship bands of the Swedish punk scene.
Jay
