Ungdomskulen

From the crunching chord that opens CRY-BABY to the squealing saxophone with which the album comes to a blood curdling end, it’s clear that UNGDOMSKULEN – formed by Kristian Stockhaus (vocals / guitar), Øyvind Solheim (drums) & Frode Kvinge Flatland (bass) and named after the Norwegian word for middle school – are cut from a different cloth from not only all the other bands on Ever Records, but also most of the bands that have ever troubled this weary globe. They stake their claim early on an album packed with dramatic soundbites – “I’m not an ordinary son”, Kristian Stockhaus declares far from solemnly – and the eight songs spread epically across its fifty minutes are conclusive proof of this. The rainy Bergen, Norway based band are capable of twisting songs into any shape they deem suitable, beating them further into an almost unrecognisable form, and then emerging at the end, bloodied but unbowed, sweating and grinning, with something spectacular and unforgettable.

CRY-BABY is, for want of a better word, relentless. There’s barely a moment throughout to retreat from its ferocious assault. And yet it’s constantly entertaining. How could it be otherwise when it’s filled with songs with titles like Glory Hole and Witches Mate In The Underground? There’s none of the po-faced muso behaviour one has come to expect from bands that stretch songs to breaking point, defying standard genres and categorisation: the closest one gets to that is Stockhaus’ salute to Øyvind Solheim’s mindbending precision behind the kit on Modern Drummer: “I bet that you can play a set / with both your hands tied tightly behind your arched back”. This is a band that can quite simply plug in and play, even if Stockhaus’ fiery guitar and Flatland’s fretboard-burning metallic bass suggest otherwise.