Drugstore Records
Norwegian band HIMORA has released their first album. They are apparently not beginners, but they lean heavily on the likes of AEROSMITH, FRANK ZAPPA and BADLANDS. Quite an intriguing mix! The 70´s and 80´s meet in their classic rock and power pop shapes. Still the info says that they are not copycats but purveyors in their own right?
Opener “Just Can´t Stop” feels like a honest statement on the state of affairs in most rock bands, no pension plans there. The refrain has an easy contagiousness about it and I think they opened in fine fashion. No beginner´s luck here. “Like a Heart Attack” smells like my old CD “Voodoo Highway” by BADLANDS, who in turn didn´t exactly invent the wheel. “Birmingham” is some kind of SABBATH gone soft power pop tribute to the town of heavy metal. The downside is that HIMORA goes way to soft at times, at least for a heavy rocker. The radio potential is there, but that has “sell-out” written all over it. Still the seventies inclined will probably find a new band to keep track of here. The latter part of the album contains a string of songs like “Summer Dress” with a refrain full of glue and an opening Indian howl. The same flirtation with what happened just about 35-40 years ago happens in “Mexico Smile”, which is a take on early solo material by David Coverdale. All in all I´d wish for a slightly heavier approach, and that the experimental ”Legend in Your Lunchbox” wouldn´t have made the cut. But I have to handle it to them; they sure know how to make refrains linger.
Track List
Just Can´t Stop
Like a Heart Attack
Too Long at the Fair
Birmingham
When the Boys Are Back
Wings
Big Betty
Summer Dress
Fisherman´s Blues
Mexico Smile
Legend in Your Lunchbox
www.facebook.com/himoramusic
