photo: datarock's myspace |
Norwegians: What can’t
they do? They’re gorgeous and effectively
style conscious; yet humble and talented, where
most disarmingly stunning people vainly take their
appeal as an equation to having everything under
the sun on silver platters.
The simplest modern Norsk
archetype is an old fisherman dedicatedly tending
to his tackle, stoically unmoved by the harshness
of his climate. But you must remember that—like
all Nordic people—the same old Viking
was once one of the most handsome, smoothest,
most sensual, creative and romantic yet protectively
strong young men any culture could imagine.
You can’t help but conclude that these
are among the finest people ever bred. The Gaelic
are pretty fucking tough—and yet gentle
and kind; but in private, even we tip our hats.
Right now the population of
our world that dances is abuzz about Datarock,
smooth young talents from Bergen, Norway. A
very busy duo, comprised of Fredrik
Saroea (vocals, guitars, drums, percussion,
keyboards) and Ket-ill (bass,
background vocals, programming, keyboards);
these two make it look pretty easy. But don’t
be fooled. When these boys kick it off live,
it’s a swarm of music and motion that
makes even the sturdiest of wall-flies shutter.
And visually, in matching red sci-fi film space-invader
tracksuits from planet Cool (they location of
origin is ascertained by the sporting of big
black sunglasses in the dead of night) they
are manifestly captivatingly.
This evening’s performance
has a third performer on stage, but shielded
by the signature shades, there’s no telling
who it is. The Datarock website lists a dozen
or so associate members, and we can only assume
this persona grata is one of them.
Datarock have put out a slew
of singles and split singles, and a self-titled
full length CD. The banger this release is Fa
Fa Fa, a proggish disco-synth
jam that makes takes you to the 70’s;
although it’s hard to tell if it’s
the 1970’s or 2070’s… The
signature sound of Datarock persists throughout
the s/t disc, and is well worth its purchase
price.
Openers, Code:breaker
hail from Wisconsin, which is proof
that weird things happen in normal places. They
are fashionable without pushing boundaries.
Tight poly-jeans and nice Nikes (if you’re
not into child labor, of course there are no
nice Nikes, but that’s another issue).
Their sound, you ask? A bit less synth—but
only a bit. They mimic a fair bit of The
Cars with a border on Gary
Numan in the Tubeway Army era. Definitely
tech—but in the way Robert Moog was kind
of a hippie.
These two groups are a great
bill-pairing, but are worth taking in as stand-alones.
If either of them show up in your neighborhood,
dress appropriately and get your ass there.
www.datarock.no
www.myspace.com/codebreaker
video of Datarock's "Bulldozer" track
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-r5WQJgHP4
Jef Hoskins, April 19, 2007
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