Album review: Thundermother “Heat Wave”
Sweden’s fabulous Thundermother is back with a new album filled with bluesy hard rock of the best kind.
Band founder and guitarist Filippa Nässil had to form an entirely new line-up of Thundermother in 2017 and what a line-up she got together! Especially vocalist Guernica Mancini is terrific with her bluesy voice with attitude. Just listen to the ballad “Sleep” to hear how great of a singer she is. But she is equally fantastic in the faster blues rocking songs that dominate this album. “Heat Wave” is Thundermother’s fourth studio album since the band was founded in Sweden in 2010. It is their best so far. There’s not a weak song on it and the playfulness is all over the place. This is a playful, high-energy bluesy hard rock album. The delivery seems so natural and effortless. It is simply excellent. I love it. There are plenty of nods to the 70s and early 80s (think buckets of influences from bands such as Deep Purple, Whitesnake, a bit of The Runaways and Girlschool and even AC/DC on songs like “Ghosts” and “Free Ourselves”), but this is not retro rock. It is here-and-now music built on a foundation of classic rock’n’roll and it is bloody good. The fast rocker “Somebody Love Me” is a knockout and one of my clear favourites on the album. Another obvious one is the very catchy “Back in 76” which has terrific guitars, great groove, heaps of energy and THAT voice. The almost Motörhead-esque “Into the Mud” is also splendid. I want to see this band live. This new material will no doubt be absolute killer in a live setting. Let’s get them a Japan tour once we can have gigs again.
Thundermother’s new album “Heat Wave” is out now via AFM Records.
