Posted by To cut down the search for music and to see how good the algorithm knows me, every so often I will let Spotify pick my new album to review. My conditions are that it is new and not from a genre I do not like (house, dance, hip hop etc), to give it a fair hearing. The streaming overlords proffered Thundermother and their new effort ‘Dirty and Divine’.
Thundermother are an all female Swedish quartet formed in 2009 who have had more band members than I have had hot dinners – this new record is the debut for singer Linnea Vikström Egg and drummer Joan Massing, and sees bassist Majsan Lindberg return. Dirty and Divine is their sixth album and it is no frills Classic Rock choc full of all the KISS, AC/DC and Rainbow-isms you could ever wish for.
From the big chords and rumbling bass of the Sammy Hagar, four to the floor thumper ‘I Left My Licence In The Future’ to the equally rowdy and restless ‘Speaking of the Devil’ there are no surprises to be had here. These Swedes deal in retro flavoured Hard Rock whose ilk you have heard many times before. It is well made and has plenty of big, shouty guitars and choruses but it adds nothing new to an overdone and overfamiliar genre.
The Cars meets Rainbow power pop of ‘Feeling Alright’ is the best of a rather middle of the road collection. Elsewhere it is rough and ready Rock like the frenetic ‘Take The Power’ and the Malcolm Young strut of ‘Can You Feel it’, with the curtains closing to the tune of the energetic ‘American Adrenaline’, which rekindles memories of ‘Ballroom Blitz. D&D sticks to the tried and tested classic rock formula and it does not leave much of a mark, but at least they have the good sense to cut and run at the 33 minute mark.
Come on Spotify, you can do better than that.
5/10.
Lofty Music and Film 