The Blue Van are more a controlled science experiment-- what happens when four zealous Danes are brought up smack dab in the middle of nowhere listening almost exclusively to Kinks, Animals, Who, and Doors records?-- than a fresh rock outfit. Their LP The Art of Rolling is an exhumed time capsule of 60s mod and psychedelica. Of course, considering how fellow Scandinavians the Hives, Raveonettes, and Soundtrack of Our Lives have all scored hit singles in the U.K and/or U.S. by channeling British invasion bands, the Blue Van's gritty, unaffected emulation of 60s blues-rock seems pretty logical, right down to the Andy Warhol-inspired album cover and mop-top hairdos.
On The Art of Rolling, however, these guys don't simply pay homage to the Sixties, they seem to actually believe they're in the decade. A Hammond organ tinges every track, and singer/guitarist Steffen Westmark uses a tube amp to replicate the raw, crunchy guitar sound of early axe gods like Dave Davies. Drummer Per Jorgenson's hyperactive pounding recalls Keith Moon; crash symbols are used as hi-hats, the snare takes a serious flogging, and massive tom fills are thrown in at nearly every transition. For better or worse, the lyrics are equally dated, seldom addressing issues more dynamic than lovesickness, desperation, or down-on-your-luck blues. "I Want You" simultaneously steals the riff, hook, and lyric of the Kinks' "I Need You", and the same helpless romantic sentiment can be found in "I Remember the Days", "Revelation of Love", and "Word From the Bird".
Word on the streets is that these guys are fun live, and they financed this album by playing about 50 electrifying, sold-out shows in Brooklyn. Maybe so, but on record I don't buy it. Sure, most tracks start with a funky drumbeat overdubbed with shouting and laughter, but that doesn't mean a party's going on. Too many progressions are pulled straight from blues guitar exercise books to conjure up much stimulation, and even at their most inventive, the Blue Van maybe sound worthy of an iPod commercial spot.
To be fair, we were all totally stoked as kids when we stumbled across our parents' record collection and discovered there was music out there more intense and enthralling than The Little Mermaid soundtrack. The Blue Van don't mean to rip off classic rock, they've just been in arrested development since age 11. Still, even in a scene where every band's aping the retro sound, the Blue Van still come off hackneyed. The Hives at least fuse seering garage punk to their Rolling Stones pomp, while the Raveonettes sound increasingly more shoegazer than surf rock with every album. So what's the Blue Van's twist on classic rock? They use more organ? Better sound mixing? They're from Broenderslev?
