Kev Rowland I was a big fan of this Swedish band’s previous album, 2012’s ‘Lights Out’, so was pleased to come across the next release, 2015’s ‘Innocence & Decadence’, which was the last they released before breaking up (they have since reformed and released ‘Peace’ in 2018). The line-up at the time was Truls Mörck (bass, vibraphone), Axel Sjöberg (drums), Jonathan LaRocca Ramm (guitar), Johan Lindström (organ, piano, backing vocals) and Joakim Nilsson (vocals, guitar). Their aim was always to play more straightforward hard rock with blues influences, and there is no doubt they looked to late Sixties/early Seventies UK/Ireland for much of their inspiration with early Foghat, John Mayall and Taste being obvious influences.

This is the style of music I grew up with, being a teenager when Bonzo was still alive and remember discussing the merits of the likes of Humble Pie, Budgie, Free, Bad Company and so many other blues-based bands. They were everywhere, and this was long before metal became the many-splintered many-headed beast it is today, and while we all loved the likes of Sabbath, Purple and many others, if it wasn’t prog then it was music based on rich guitars, great solos and the blues, and that is just what we have here. The use of an Organ as opposed to a synth also adds a richness and depth to the music, allowing us just to smile and get into the groove. This is music which may have some commonality with Blue Cheer, but generally this is so reminiscent of the style of music which was all around us back in the day – the Seventies may never have been cool, but boy did we have some great music growing up, and this takes up back to those days.