posted 09/18/2008 (Thu) @ 09:18 pm
>>> Music Reviews
Prime sth - Underneath The Surface (2002)
Alternative Rock / Radio Rock
…More Than Meets the Eye
- Underneath The Surface
- I Don’t Envy You
- I’m Stupid (Don’t Worry ’bout Me)
- Believe
- In My Head
- From The Inside
- Even The Score (No One Else)
- My Evil Friend
- She
- Let Me Bleed
- 24 Song
To a small minority, Swedish alt-rockers Prime sth hit the airwaves around the same time it became uncool for the same minority to like Nickelback. (Yeah, they were “cool” before they were famous to some.) As a result, the sadrock anthem “I’m Stupid” bumrushed local alternative stations with much less oomph than many popular songs at the same time, including the insipid, career-making “How You Remind Me.”
But “I’m Stupid” still left a taste on a few listeners’ palates. If you go in expecting yet another crapfarm of subpar tunes padding out the big single, imagine the surprise to be had at discovering that Swedes actually don’t believe in “filler,” even when they’re writing radio tunes.
Make no mistake: Prime sth are absolutely, unapologetically post-grunge, mainstream “alternative rock” the likes of early Bush, or (at least at first glance) countless indistinguishably whiny butt-rock bands like Revis, Default or Hinder. Yet there’s something uniquely energetic about their take on the sound they’ve adopted.
Let’s get a picture going. First of all, speed everything up beyond the sludgy, lumbering pace of a mildly-retarded rhino enjoyed so fervently by some of the aforementioned bands. Think Nevermind-era Nirvana with Garbage production values. Then witness the introductory slide riffage of “I Don’t Envy You” give way to a sweet and noisy bass-driven groove, then a dark, moody break, then an explosive chorus. Or the breakneck (for radio)-paced, neutered punk swagger of “24 Song.” Even the slower moments, like the plodding “From the Inside,” step on the gas for that all-important “wake up and pay attention” chorus.
Prime sth understand the need for variety in composition if they want to keep listeners entertained. Even if they do work within pre-formed molds, what they produce is massively enjoyable, windows-down, noisy rock. If you liked “I’m Stupid,” the majority of the tracks here reside in the same tried and true loud-soft-loud, turnarounds and angst-plus-volume equals carthasis vein.
It’s certainly lasted longer than Silver Side Up has for anything outside of catching the sweat from soda cans on my coffee table.
Tags: alt-rock, pop, radio, world
