“The live show of Honningbarna is hailed to be one of the most thrilling in Norway. Musically, and on record they kick just as hard. The songs have the flare of revolution frenzy, bringing to mind the likes of ‘The Bronx’, ‘The Hives’ and ‘Fucked Up’. No wonder perhaps, that Swedish producer Pelle Gunnerfeldt, also collaborator with The Hives and Refused for many years, is overseeing the birth of Honningbarna’s second album, which will be released in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, The Netherlands, UK and Ireland this year, it’s all been happening so quickly. Just three months after releasing their first EP, they won the Norwegian broadcasting’s annual unsigned band competition ‘Årets Urørt’ and in the same year they released their debut album ‘La Alarmane Gå’ (Sound The Alarm) which won Spellemannsprisen (the equivalient of the Grammy’s) for Best Rock Album, and also got nominated as Best Newcomer”.
Honningbarna (translation ‘The Honeychildren’) will descend upon the South Coast of England for Brighton`s annual three day, new music showcase ‘The Great Escape‘. Quiet confusion or Rock ‘N’ Roll hysteria, they’re kicking off the proceedings at ‘The Green Door Store‘ on Friday 17th May with a 12.45pm opening slot, you wouldn’t want to be the band following a blistering live set from this Norwegian six-piece. The merits of singing in their native tongue is indeed a righteous notion, Scandinavian languages do tend to flow with a rhythmic edge, unlike most common Eastern European dialects. Whether the novelty value becomes credible and these idiosyncrasies are ironed out over the coming year is anyone’s guess, but would the ONCE fabulous ‘XFM’ have championed ‘The Hives’, tagging them with ‘Your Favourite New Band’ if Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist screamed his Garage-Rock anthems in Swedish or would ‘The Raveonettes’ be so Indie-pastiche if their back-catalog was doused in Danish?
The new album ‘Verden Er Enkel’ refuses any softly-softly approach, it welds the venom of youth angst with the fixed expression of a cheeky twenty year-old smile – Setting the lyrical content aside (i`m not entirely sure what they’re singing), ‘Verden Er Enkal’ is relentless from start to finish. This is the little guy kicking sand in your face, the verbal aggression just gets a little more inspiring and the Punk Rock remains internationally brilliant.
“Verden Er Enkel is their first UK album release, and a statement of intent from a band only just out of their teens, whose performances with ‘The Bronx’ on our shores last year almost over shadowed their formidable headliners. Their aim is world domination, without compromise – they won’t sing in English – gimmicks or vanities, but with pure energy and love for music amidst their fans.
15.5: London, The Barfly, UK
17.5: Brighton, The Great Escape, UK
18.5: The Underground, Stoke on Trent, UK
Courtesy Of Super Cat PR
