Pretty Wild
Interstate 13
Dead End Exit Records / Black Lodge Records
It’s just not fjords and back metal up there in Scandinavia; they can crank out power chord melodies music when they want to. In my world, electronic noise and oddly anti-melodic tunes comprise most of my Ink19 listening diet.
But occasionally, a real gem comes across the transom. Pretty Wild is a Swedish outfit cranking out tight and thrilling power pop and hard rock songs. The lyrics are interesting, the musicianship skilled and the music designed to turn up to 11 when you hit the open highway. “Meant for Trouble” begs us to “Save me from myself,” a prayer all hard rockers make at some point. As we listen, we wonder: “what is reality and what is illusion?” And while we do, the fire breathing guitar work from Axl Ludwig pumps your blood pressure up to Metallica levels. Then we fly off with “Superman,” notionally a love song but one that ignores the flowers and champagne stages and goes right to the begging for redemption from romance gone bad.
This band gets right to the point, no pussyfooting about what they want. You want a pop ballad? They’ve got one of those in “Wild and Free,” but then it’s back to the metal sound Pretty Wild masters with “Stand My Ground” and “The Way I Am.” No morose synth-pop tunes here; this is full metal horny teenager rock, and a refreshing cleanser from experimental music trying to be something clever and melodic. Let’s make America headbang again!
