Electric Boys - Freewheelin (1994)

Electric Boys always had something cool about them, those big, often psychedelic struttin' grooves and that voice - the type of smooth yet powerful pipes that remind me of Kik Tracee. These guys were pretty consistent even though they never made the big time, 'Freewheelin' is another solid opus that combines a bluesy soul with sugary sway. I guess being Swedish never enabled them to attack the USA or Britain for that matter and so, tragically they ended up alongside the genial Saigon Kick and the likes as also-rans and yet just one listen to this stonkin' opus makes me wonder why bands like Aerosmith got so big yet these boys floundered. Clearly Electric Boys didn't have the push, but their songs are so colourful, soulful and hearty, never once slipping into hair metal cheese, tracks like the bruising rock n' roll of 'Ready To Believe In Me,' the shuffling blues-baked 'The Groover,' and retro swagger of 'Mountains & Sunsets' shows a band in full flight, at their creative peak and yet one about to fall apart. I sense a band here who are pissed off, possibly at the music industry but it's great to hear them giving it another go. Hopefully the albums will be reissued because they are pretty hard to find on cd, this blighter wasn't even released in the Us, which is a shame because there's a Black Crowes swagger going on in parts, only meatier. 'Not My Cross To Bare' my favourite track on the album. Electric Boys, masters of being slick. 7.5/10