The year is 1986: A space shuttle explodes in the USA, a radioactive cloud is threatening to poison Europe, the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme is assassinated. While a band named The Smiths release an album named “The Queen Is Dead”, the biggest hit in the UK is “Don’t Leave Me This Way” by The Communards.
Meanwhile, back in Sweden, four mods release their first album after four years of being a band. They were named “The Creeps” and they loved the sixties. No, wait that’s wrong: They lived like 1970 never happened. They had the clothes, the hair, the attitude and most of all: The sound. Their band was all about those classic American garage/beat tracks that were on the “Nuggets” compilation, those British Invasion groups like The Yardbirds or The Animals, or basically any other beat band of the day.
The result of these influences can be heard on this record in an unadulterated manner. There’s that droning farfisa organ, the fuzzed-up guitars and the pounding drums. Above all, though: There is a voice. And what a voice. The Creeps’ singer Robert Jelinek croons like this was a competition. The band is tight, the sounds are rough and dirty and after the first chords you’re there, you’re “Down At The Night Club”. And until the very last tune, the boisterous “She’s Gone”, you stay there with some of the most savage Rock’n’Roll of the 80s. Classic tunes covered, organ-drenched instrumentals
Granted, the album lacks some depth or wiseness. But let me ask you: Who in the world would need depth and wiseness when The Creeps offer you a rollercoaster ride that could hardly be more fun. Put on your seatbelt and your dancing shoes, let’s go for a ride and enjoy the Creeps!
