Dugong‘s “Hat danko” is one of my favourite UK records and aside from that CD I have very little experience of Bombed Out Records – that is until The Leif Ericsson‘s S/T debut album dropped into my postbox. When I receive CDs from bands that I have no experience of I like to let the music do the talking first and then take a little look into their background before writing this review – and these eleven tracks quickly come across as rough punk rock gems that are obviously influenced by the likes of early Bad Religion and Snuff. While I can’t see this release sitting for very long in my CD player (who am I kidding, I stick things into a computer nowadays and let itunes do the talking!) as the sound is deliberately a little rough round the edges – it makes me want to check the Leif Ericsson out live and that’s exactly what new releases should do for you.
“Fetch the Noose” opens with aquatic noises before ripping into a fast paced punk track, and this opening is well complimented by further tracks such as the catchy “Explode your heart” and the excellent “Aquaplane”. As I find with many releases though – it’s nothing essentially new to this genre but it does keep you entertained for half an hour every so often. One thing that does surprise me about this release though is that it’s taken six years for The Leif Ericsson to release a debut album but this must be due to band changes and issues that a new listener will not be aware of. Vocally the band offer a gritty sound and I find these come across better in a live setting, but it mixes well with the punk rock sound the band are playing and it’s a relief to hear a vocalist without that standard American whine we’ve grown sick of.
This album is far from perfect though and I find myself losing interest in its latter stages, especially with tracks such as “Hawthorns” and to some extent “Safety measures and alcohol limits”. Saying that “Two thousand lakes” starts and finishes well and provides a pretty solid closing track that reminds me why I was impressed enough on first listen to get this far.
I can never see The Leif Ericsson making too large an impact in the UK music scene – but those more underground will not mind this one bit.
Tom