The Mooney Suzuki
Electric Sweat

THE REVIEW

It was that fateful evening when I, distractedly, listened to a Mooney Suzuki video on Brand:New. From that day on, I decided: "Yes, I have to find at least one album of these something-Suzuki!" And let's be honest, I found more than one. Formed in the early '90s in the Big Apple, they have become one of the most interesting acts in the contemporary garage-blues scene, thanks to that MC5-Led Zeppelin-Rolling Stones mix that is a delight to listen to nowadays.

The album starts with a punch to the gut, with the title-track "Electric Sweat". During the playback of this track, it's almost impossible to stay still. It feels like listening to a bit of the Datsuns and a bit of Led Zeppelin, the former especially in the vocal part, the latter in the instrumental setup. Pure, healthy rock'n'roll like we haven't heard since the debut of BRMC and the Strokes. "Oh Sweet Susanna" slightly winks at the Soundtrack Of Our Lives. The choruses and drums are indeed typical of the Swedish band led by Ebbot Lundberg. The album never loses its rhythm, except for the penultimate track "The Broken Heart", a ballad in full '60s style. The rock'n'roll imprint of the New York band continues to be felt throughout the thirty-five minutes of the album, through episodes such as "It's not easy", "Natural Facts" and "I woke up this mornin'" (which sounds so much like a rearranged cover of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones, so similar are the chords). The track that closes the album, "Electrocuted Blues", is an instrumental blues of about three minutes, with remarkable guitar virtuosity and a fairly sustained rhythm. In the end, the exclamation is almost automatic: "Wow, it's over already! What a pity... I might as well start it from the beginning..."

Nothing new in the sound of this album, but everything is packaged and blended so well that it is significantly above the average value of all this indie-rock-clone wave, which frankly has tired us a bit. Album, sound, and band: in "Electric Sweat" everything sounds and results very valid. We'll see in the future how much they have to say and especially if they won't end up forgotten as many have. Hope is the last to die, we'll see if it prevails.