Millencolin

Editor's Review:

These guys are from Sweden. Perhaps that’s why they’re in so many snowboard videos, and Millencolin fans from before Life on a Plate (the group’s last record) will be pleased as hell with this new release — it’s got more of their great in-your-face punk rock than you can shake a stick at.

Adhering to their roots as a foundation skate-punk band, and having built their following from contributing songs to so many videos of that nature while touring relentlessly over the past three years, they’ve honed their talents into this polished and error-free recording. With Brett Gurewitz, (Epitaph founder and all around master of his domain) at the controls engineering and producing, these Swedes couldn’t go wrong in the sound department. Nikola’s trademark vocals tie this record together tighter than Oprah’s fingers around a Twinkie. Maybe it’s because they’re European, but this quartet hasn’t been tainted by any of the cookie-cutter wussy-punk being churned out these days. They still have the balls to be loud and a little angry without having to worry about being unmarketable.

Standout songs are "Right About Now" with it’s fast and unrelenting guitar riffage that is uniquely Millencolin, and "The Ballad." Appropriately titled, this acoustic number (Millencolin’s first) proves Nikola’s vocals can stand on their own even without the thick background of punk the rest of the band’s soldiers provide. The record rolls along with a coherence and steadiness that would put any beautiful day in the snowboard park to music in a way that would be definitively poetic.

Bookmark:

Record Label Epitaph Released April 2001

Tracks No Cigar Fox Material Boy Duckpond Right About Now Penguins & Polarbears Hellman Devil Me Stop To Think The Mayfly Highway Donkey A-Ten Pepper The Ballad