HEJ PÅ ER

"..it deserves mentioning that it had nothing to do with the contemporary rise of the so called New Wave in rock music." So says TK's lyricist Olle Thornvall, apparently tired of the view of critics and fans that the band had somehow sold out their Prog credentials for disco, New Wave, or any other trend in 1978. I'll take Olle's word to be true yet at the same time I can understand why people might think that: "hej pa er!" sounds like a prog rock band hitting the late 70s and adjusting to the sounds around them. Not so says Olle who further explains in the CD booklet that "they were heading in a new direction musically, which paradoxically meant reverting to more traditional forms..towards some kind of mature simplification." But I guess Olle's point is that the change in the bands sound was completely from within and not the result of chasing the dollar signs in the latest trends. Fair enough.

So what does this album sound like? It's not easy to describe. They sound like a Swedish prog-rock band mixed with a little Talking Heads. This album contains 3-5 minute pop flavored rock songs which are tight as hell, instantly memorable, and enjoyable if you are not expecting them to repeat their earlier work. This is a band that can play very well and presents a quality production like you might expect from a Steely Dan album.

"Hej pa er!" opens the album with a track that features a perky shuffle ala Wings' "Coming Up" along with wonderful dual guitar harmonies and near perfect pop sensibilities. This continues in "Natten som alltid" with an amazingly catchy verse melody of bass and acoustic. There are some nice falsetto vocals. Supposedly the lyrics are sad but the music is contrastingly upbeat. I sure wish I could understand the lyrics to this album as the music makes me very curious! There's also some slide guitar in the background. "Stan tur och retur" features a period synth sound in a driving rocker that ends with a good guitar solo. "Moln pa marken" picks up with great guitar work and up front bass to mid tempo drums before the sax enters the picture. This is a beautiful but sadly too-short instrumental with lovely guitar solos inspired by summer's morning mists accordingly to the notes. "Dagspress" is a commentary on the bad news in the papers and the music is again driving rock with spot-on electric solos, synth colors, and inventing drumming. "En kvall hos X" was an important song to the band according to Olle and this is one of those ear-worm songs that is so catchy it just makes you want to move. A slightly funky beat is alternated with a hard rock riff and then a jazzy sax interlude butting in for good measure. Another wailing solo closes this one-guitar fans will not be disappointed by the strong presence of guitar on this album. "Ser du mej?" features a little violin and cello. "En dag om natten" is a darker track with dramatic vocals. The album closes with "Andra sedan" which begins with a clean guitar. This is an instrumental combining a rather melancholic guitar chord progression with a majestic, hopeful keyboard sound. Nice way to end the album which has many upbeat songs but clearly has an underlying sadness to it as well.

Three of the four bonus tracks come from their next album "Mot all odds" which Olle admits was influenced by New Wave and was a disappointment (to them) although the more direct sound had some fans.

The MNW remastered digipak release features great sound, a tri-fold cover to display the lovely artwork, and a fabulously detailed booklet with in depth notes of most songs, lyrics, and great photos. Nice job on this re-issue guys. 3.5 stars.

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