Thundermother Rock n Roll Disaster is Anything But

Rock ‘n’ Roll Disaster, the debut release from Sweden’s Thundermother is anything but a disaster! You may not be familiar with this band, and neither was I until one day I was watching a concert recording of another awesome Swedish band, Sister Sin that they had posted on their Facebook page. The next band on stage at the event was Thundermother. With AC/DC comparisons abound they were captivating, exuding a stage presence and energy that drew me in right away with their original compositions. I eagerly awaited the release of their debut album that my internet scouring had informed me was in the works and was stoked when their name appeared among the 80 plus groups that would be performing at 2014’s Sweden Rock Festival. Excellent, I would get to witness the actual live act as I voyage from Toronto, Canada to Solvesborg, Sweden for my second year of the festival event. The ladies were absolutely incredible on stage that day fueled by periodic shots of “Fireball” and I was forced to skip another act that I been waiting to see since 1990 as I couldn’t pull myself away from Thundermother! Day #3 at Sweden Rock 2014. I had planned to purchase the CD and also a t-shirt at the festival, but somehow failed to complete this mission. I’ve now acquired the CD, but the t-shirt I have yet to secure. The band consists of a quintet of ladies, guitarists Filippa Nassil and Giorgia Carteri being the original founders and after a long search involving several players are now joined by Tilda Stenqvist on drums, Linda Strom on bass and Irishwoman Clare Cunningham commanding the vocal position. Their particular flavor of rock ‘n’ roll could probably best be described as what things might sound like if Australia’s AC/DC underwent a sex change operation with a little Sex Pistols attitude thrown in for good measure.

The album opens up, as did the Sweden Rock show, with “Man With Blues”, the longest running song contained on Rock ‘n’ Roll Disaster. “Deranged” follows and both these first two tracks are solid straight forward hard rock songs featuring plenty of classic riffage. From there things really ramp up with “The Dangerous Kind”, a track that I was familiar with through my you-tube adventures prior to heading over to Sweden and likewise with the next in line title track. The three punch to the gut combo of the best songs on Rock ‘n’ Roll Disaster come now in succession with the well named “Thunderous”, the way too short “Please Me” and the lead single from the album “Shoot to Kill”. “One For the Road” could be my least favorite and while “Cheers” may be rather campy, it’s insanely catching and comes off really well in a live setting with, of course, a guest appearance from the “Fireball”. “Saturday” closes the album on a high note with another fast paced in your face rocker.

The ladies haven’t re-invented the wheel here, but the album is filled with good solid hard rock songs all possessing a heavy helping of cohones. Check out what I mean through the official video for “Shoot to Kill” below.