Ridin' the Tiger

Formed hot on the heels of the Norwegian trendsetters Turbonegro, and pre-empting the Scandinavian garage rock revival by quite a few years, Oslo-based quintet Gluecifer made their full-length debut with 1997's surprisingly memorable Ridin' the Tiger. And, although they were clearly steeped in the same, post-glam, pure rock urges of their denim-clad, N.A.M.B.L.A.-loving heroes, there was also something decidedly Motörhead-ish about Gluecifer's brand of speed-addled psychosis (a feature also espoused by labelmates like the Hellacopters and the Backyard Babies, let it be said). The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and the pudding here contains a steady recipe of pedal-to-the-metal racers ("Leather Chair," "Evil Matcher," the self-evident "Burnin' White"), only interrupted by nearly as teetotal laughers like "Rock'n'Roll A*****e" and the wonderfully dangerous "Rockthrone." In fact, the members of Gluecifer were still so hopelessly addicted to that rush at this stage in their career, that they only find time to stop maniacally pogo-ing around the room on two or three occasions; and it's fair to say they sounded rather more ill at ease than self assured on the purposefully slick "Bounced Checks," the intensely groove-based "Titanium Sunset," and the amusingly warped "Obi Damned Kenobi." Still, for a debut album Ridin' the Tiger was a more than capable and even promising first step on Gluecifer's lengthy run.