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Electric Boys: And Them Boys Done Swang
Electric Boys And Them Boys Done Swang album new music review

Electric Boys: And Them Boys Done Swang

Melodic (Hard) Rock
4.5/5.0

Escape Music
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by Craig Hartranft,  05.30.2011

Sweden's Electric Boys were moderate phenomena for six years between 1988 and 1984 between Europe and America. However, the didn't really fit the times, neither hair/glam nor grunge, with their funky, groove driven, rock on the cleverly titled Funk O Metal Carpet Ride (1989) and Groovus Maximus (1992). The band disbanded in 1994 with Conny Bloom (v,g) and Andy Christell (b) joining up with Hanoi Rocks. In 2009 Bloom and Christell decided get the band back together, and the result is And Them Boys Done Swang. Once more Electric Boys deliver straight melodic rock with the hooks of funk and groove.

If anything, you must give Electric Boys applaud for their clever song titles. Reeferlord, Father Popcorn's Magic Oysters, A Mother of a Love Story, Angel in an Armoured Suit, and Sometimes U Gotta Go Look for the Car should make you grin, but also wonder what's inside.

Reeferlord are fast rockers with a strong groove. My Heart's Not for Sale and Put Your Arms Around Me delivers classic rock n roll with strong melody, clever hooks, and infectious choruses. These two could go straight to radio friendly air play. Father Popcorn's Magic Oysters tastes of some 70's pyschedelia blended with a funky groove. That funk borne sound returns in The House is Rockin' (some inane lyrics), Rollin' the World (horns included), and Sometimes U Gotta Go Look for the Car. The last is more an instrumental with the title the only repeated lyric. The ballad Ten Thousand Times Goodbye whittles at your heart with its smooth vocal arrangement and slippery guitar. Some song didn't quite inspire as the others. These include the basic hard rock of Angel in an Armoured suit and the sort of 70's The Day the Gypsies Came to Town. Nevertheless, these songs hardly diminish the fresh sound of the work.

And Them Boys Done Swang is a fine return for Sweden's Electric Boys and, with their clever and entertaining mix of rock, funk, and groove, a welcome diversion from current rock trends, both American and international. Recommended.




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In Short

And Them Boys Done Swang is a fine return for Sweden's Electric Boys and, with their clever and entertaining mix of rock, funk, and groove, a welcome diversion from current rock trends, both American and international.

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