The Good The Bad – From 001 To 017
Review by Jack Foley
DANISH trio The Good The Bad are a cavalier bunch of music-makers who like to let their music do their talking: literally – there are no words.
New album From 001 To 017 is an instrumental barrage of quick fire surf rock riffs and dirty flamenco that channels the memory of The Shadows (circa Apache) as well as the soundtrack selections of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez (circa Grindhouse).
It’s cinematic, it’s retro-tastic, it’s sexy, funky, riff-laden, surf-savvy and, above all, hugely enjoyable… not to mention resolutely non-conformist.
The Good The Bad are Adam Olsson on lead guitar, Johan Lei Gellett on drums and Manoj Ramdas (ex-member of The Raveonettes) on baritone guitar and their growing notoriety is such that they’ve quickly risen to cult hero status among the rock ‘n’ roll classes with everyone from The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Horrors and even The Killers raving about their virtues (especially in light of their barnstorming set at SXSW earlier this year).
But their philosophy is simple, as Adam, guitarist and main writer of The Good The Bad’s songs explains: “We don’t need a vocalist. The music speaks for itself. We use the music so we don’t have to say I Love You. There’s too many bullshit words in this world.”
That attitude extends to the track-listing, where the records are just numbers (hence From 001 To 017)… but it’s silly picking out any one track for special mention as the album works best as a whole.
Yes, there are thrilling highlights, such as the no-nonsense opening offering 001 or 003, but they’re best left discovered for yourself when you can bop around the living room, play air guitar and jam to the best of them.
Or, you could take a leaf out of the rather attractive lass from the raunchy video to 030, who really lets herself go in an orgasmic show of sexual excess.
But then that’s how The Good The Bad would probably prefer to be described: sexy, thrilling, playful and orgasmic. Check that that video here if you don’t believe us
Download picks: 001, 003, 007, 008, 010, 011, 012, 017
Track listing: