Shout Bama Lam...
Clark Paull | Murder City | 04/27/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This could very well be the great lost Fleshtones album except that it was recorded by four guys from the southern suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden. Compartmentalize them as you see fit - garage rock revivalists, pre-psychedelia parodists, beat merchants -but one thing's for sure - Dee Rangers, on only their second album, have managed to stake out a major piece of turf in an already crowded genre. "Pretty Ugly Beat" manages to harness the adolescent, primitive energy of the original wave of garage bands without succumbing to awestruck nostalgia. Yes, it contains plenty of fuzz guitar, Farfisa organ, and lyrics about cheating girlfriends, but Dee Rangers tromp a little harder on the gas than some of their contemporaries as they're backing out of the garage. If there's such a thing as a retro guitar god, then his name is Nicke Ohman. Ohman (Oh, man!) is all over the place, powering "Come On (I'm A P.U.B.)" into the stratosphere, hanging ten, surfin' and spyin' on the reverb-drenched "Musta Petteri," and generally filling in every available space with chunky, Wilko Johnson-like power chording. He's the straw that stirs the drink. Singer Mike Eriksson is a certified double-threat. Blessed with a beefy and primal voice, his harmonica squalk is a thing of beauty, at times recalling that of the late Yardbird Keith Relf, especially on "Get Me Out Of Here" and album-closing rave-up "I'm Lost." At the risk of lapsing into Ted Nugent-speak, drummer Uffe Pettersson and bassist Johnny Elfstrom are locked, loaded, and ready to wail. Producer Liam Watson (who has also fiddled with the knobs for The Neanderthals, The Kaisers, Dr. Explosion, The Kills, and The White Stripes) keeps things bright and lively without glossing things up too much and Parsley The Lion lays down a thick ground cover of Vox and Hammond organ. Don Craine of Downliners Sect bangs on the maracas and tambourine and sings a bit, too. "Pretty Ugly Beat" is anything but. It's packed to bursting with a volatile combination of muscle, enthusiasm, and creative thinking. There's a party going on within these grooves and you don't have to look very hard to find it"
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1