DIVISION OF LAURA LEE
Das Not Compute
Epitaph Records

How different two years and a razor-sharp production make. Following the heals of Black City (2002) Swedish garage-punk DOLL fine-tune their assault with meaty hooks, fuzzed out guitars and walls of feedback. Awakened within the quartet is the cold fusion of pop harmonies and retro distortion. Right from the get go the first three songs, “Does Compute,” “We Are Numbers” and “Endless Factories” come straight out of the box burnin’ rubber.

Much more techno than their native brothers Hellacopters or Backyard Babies, these guys swim in a environment far more musically altered yet still under control. There is the Gothic “Breathe Breathe” reminiscent of My Dying Bride or Sisters of Mercy. The country tinged “To The Other Side” and the Detroit balls-to-the wall “Dirty Love” (featuring the Cardigans' Nina Persson) and “Sneaking Up On Mr. Prez”.

Assembled from spare parts of Sweden’s hardcore music underground. vocalist/guitarist Per Stålberg, guitarist David Ojala, bassist Jonas Gustavsson, and drummer Håkan Johansson push the confines of their own musical box. Their success is embedded within the ‘70s-styled “Loveless” and the slamfest of “Q2” – hypersonic Stooges with wah wah. Yet, the band save the best for last when they end the record with “There’s A last Time For Everything” – a monster that builds with a pop hook over a hard rock backbone.

Website: Epitaph Records

Todd Smith, http://www.thecutting-edge.net