Generous Maria - Electricism

Generous Maria has been rocking around since 1998. My first contact with them was on mp3.com, sometime around late ’99 or early 2K. If I remember it right it was a track called “Strict Nurse” that caught my attention. Later on the band released a split with Skua. Then things started to happen and they signed with Lunasound and released Command of the New Rock in 2002 (2003 in the US), which was one of the better releases on the stoner rock market that year. Since then Lunasound was bought up buy another label and Generous Maria left. Later they got signed to Buzzville Records from Belgium, who also re-released Command of the New Rock in a new edition with a few bonus tracks.

Electricism shows that this band from Gothenburg, Sweden know their roots. I find hints of Led Zeppelin, Blue Cheer, and Black Sabbath mixed with some The Cult. I wouldn´t be at all surprised if the title of the album is a tribute to The Cult’s album Electric. There is much in GM’s sound of today that make me think of The Cult, and especially Electric era. Somehow my fellow Swedes mix all these influences and yet the do not sound like a rip off, and that´s good. There are many bands playing this kind of a hard rock/metal that paint their houses just like their neighbour do. What I´m trying to say is that Electricism is not bringing new merch to the market, but they are most certainly bringing quality rock. Girls, cigarettes, good ol’ Rock n’ roll, and a few beers thrown in if you know what I mean.

There are two tracks that I find to be stand-outs, the opener, “The Chilling Effect,” which for me had a temperature rising effect. This song made me think of another Gothenburg based band called Mustasch. The rolling drums and the heavy guitar riffs didn´t cool me down at all. A great opening track that shows that you don´t have to put your fastest track first on the album, which many bands seems to do these days.

The other stand-out track is a cover of ZZ Top’s “Precious And Grace.” I have never been a huge fan of ZZ Top, and honestly couldn´t remember how the original sounded, so I had to borrow the original CD from a friend just to have a refresher. Generous Maria does their own version and they manage to get their very own vibe to it. If it wasn´t for the fact that I knew from the start that it was a cover tune I would have bought it as a homegrown Generous Maria song.

All in all a really good hard rock album tagged for fans of both classic 70´s hard rock and stoner rock.

Pils | 07/10/2006