Pirate Love: Black Vodoun Space Blues
Oslo, Norway’s Pirate Love are many things, but definitely not boring. Their latest album, Black Vodoun Space Blues through Kong Tiki Records, takes you on an adventure of music. To label them is difficult, but calling them a mish-mash of 60’s psych-rock, punk rock, and early rock and roll doesn’t do them justice. Its hard for me to figure out who exactly inspired them.
The album begins with two songs, “Shake It!” and “Sick of You”, which bring to mind The Ramones. I had to double check to make sure that I was indeed onto track two. The pause between the songs isn’t enough to distinguish the music. It sounds very much like the music is the same but the words different. And after all, weren’t The Ramones masters of changing up the words while tweaking the music only slightly?
Still, the album picks up on tracks that combine 60’s rock and surf rock. I admit, the electric organ is an instrument neglected by the modern music industry. Pirate Love pull it out of whatever warehouse the industry has been hiding this instrument, and they put it to good use. “In a Dirty Cellar” seems to channel Freddy Cannon’s “Palisades Park”, but with that Norwegian flair Pirate Love exude. Another track that takes advantage of the electric organ is “You Don’t Break My Heart”, which adds a bit of 90’s grunge screaming vocals to the foray.
“Tranquilizer” is straight forward surf rock, without the vocals. Listening to it, I couldn’t help but wait for Frankie Avalon to come running out with a surf board to save the day. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. But the crowning moment of Black Vodoun Space Blues is “Ain’t Nothing to Do (A Kiss Hello)”. The Norwegian band brings out the rock-a-billy and does their best Chuck Berry imitation on the guitar. They sneak that early rock sound in there, but they put it to good use. With licks like that, I wonder why they don’t show it more.
Pirate Love are currently touring the US with Viva City. If you like your music fast, fun, and loud, then Pirate Love is definitely for you. I find that Black Vodoun Space Blues doesn’t have enough of the sound that I like. But they definitely bring their own sound to the stage and the States. And with their volatile mixture of musical genres coming to their, they are definitely one volatile cocktail. Check out “Ain’t Nothing to Do (A Kiss Hello)”. The guitar play on the track is worth the listen.
Rating: 4.4/10
MP3: Pirate Love “Ain’t Nothing to Do (A Kiss Hello)”
Buy: iTunes
Pirate Love: Black Vodoun Space Blues
