The scenario goes a little something like this: Come from a Scandanavian country, dress rather snappily and re-launch that 70’s punk/rock New York style. Release loads of 7″ singles on independent labels, become the ‘next big thing’ in all the music magazines and release your debut album to critical acclaim. Sound familiar? Well The Hives and The (International) Noise Conspiracy are the front runners in this new noise revolution. If only The Strokes and The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s were Scandanavian…
Anyway, with praise being heaped on the likes of INC by the bucketload, it seems only apt for Europe to finally have the early years released on CD. ‘The First Conspiracy’ was previously only available in North America and Hong Kong on G7 Welcoming Committee Records, but is now available on Burning Heart for your listening pleasure. It’s a compilation album of all of their early recordings, the stuff released on those aforementioned limited edition vinyls that go for mega-bucks on eBay. And at less than 28 minutes long, ‘The First Conspiracy’ most certainly does not outstay its welcome. But are INC really worthy of all the hype? And are they really any better than the likes of The Hives or The Strokes?
Well for me the jury is still out, especially on the basis of this record. INC may well be the critics darlings and be loved by every rock star in the world, but for me this record certainly is not mindblowing. That’s not to say it’s particularly bad, but there’s nothing here to suggest they warrant the tag of being the ‘saviours of rock’. Opener ‘The First Conspiracy’ is a short, punchy blast with Dennis Lyxzen’s screams littered in between the verses and ‘Abolish Work’ is also very simple and Hives-esque. ‘A New Language’ is much better, with a guitar line that will have you dancing around your bedroom in no time.
‘Do U Know My Name’ isn’t anything too special, unlike the groovy ‘T.I.M.E.B.O.M.B’ which, although less of an assault on the ears, is much more rythmn based and will result in you tapping your feet with reckless abandon. ‘The Sin Crusade’ is decent enough, but it lacks any real spark to set it apart from the likes of The Strokes, whilst ‘The Blast Off’ continues in true INC style, inducing air drumming and air guitar playing. And if you aren’t mimicking the musicianship during ‘Young Pretenders Army’, a delightful slice of rock and roll, you really should be.
‘I Swear If U Do’ is nothing special, sounding a little too like some of the other tracks. ‘Airports’ is better – faster and more riff driven than some of the other songs, such as ‘Introduction To…’ which lets the record down by being a bit, well, bland. So it’s a good job that the record bows out in fine style, with ‘The Black Mask’ rocking out to the max, creating a sonic assault by mixing some quality vocals with creative guitar lines. And it’s as good, although maybe not as melodic, as anything their compatriots have done.
There’s no doubting that ‘The First Conspiracy’ isn’t INC’s best work and that their live reputation certainly exceeds anything on offer here. Worth checking out if you are already a fan of the band, but if you are a newcomer it’s probably best looking at their other releases first. Still, you could do worse than to pull on your dancing shoes and whack this on at full blast…
Paul Savage