Jesus Chrüsler Supercar – ’35 Supersonic’

Jesus Chrüsler Supercar are a trio of death ‘n’ rollers from Stockholm.  They play energetic, vibrant rock mixed with punk fury, with references to death and thrash metal, and even a hint of stoner mixed with grunge.  They play it loud.  VERY loud.  And they play it fast.  VERY fast.

Right from the off there is a very live, raw feel to this, the band’s second album.  There is also an urgency, although this is perhaps not that surprising as the 11 songs were apparently written against the backdrop of an extremely tight deadline from the record company to produce and deliver this long overdue follow up to 2013’s ‘Among The Ruins And Desolate Lands’ debut (well, I can sort of see the label’s point).

The sound is rooted in the dense, fuzzed out bass and guitars of Robban Bergeskans and new recruit Chris Sirén respectively, which are both underpinned by Nicke Forsberg’s snappy drums, with the combined amalgamation roaring and purring like a finey tuned engine.  Bergeskans’ vocals are towering, like a weird amalgam of Lemmy and Dave Grohl.  The pace is frenetic, with no room for poncy ballads or moments of introspection on the part of this adrenalized rock ‘n’ roll machine.  And they’re not afraid to experiment:  ‘I Can Get’, for example, has a very Slayer feel to its groove, while ‘Backfire’ is like an energized QOTSA.  There are also some nice doom interjections, such as on the Sabbath-esque intro to the otherwise manic ‘Death Street’ and, most suitably’, on the thumping grunt of ‘For Sale For Satan’.

The overall effect is that of heading down the motorway in a very fast vintage sports car with an acid-fuelled Jeremy Clarkson at the wheel, his foot fully depressed on the accelerator, brakes that don’t work and the off ramp getting closer and closer… full throttle rock ‘n’f’n’ roll muthafuckas!  Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Tracklist:

Let It Roll / From Hell / I Can Get It / Backfire / Digging My Grave / Down, Down, Down / Death Street / For Sale For Satan / Eternity’s Cold Black Night / Feed The Flies / I Gotta Go

Recommended listening:  From Hell / Death Street

’35 Supersonic’ is released today (Friday 18 March) via Rodeostar/SPV.