Altered Zones

Amongst neon-washed images of a space cow, birds in suits, and the intimacy shared by a lorakeet, a man, and his banana, there is a defining moment above all else in Danish three-piece Thulebasen's "Monsters" video: the slow-motion, back-to-the-camera stride into the rehearsal room. Yeah, the "we're not fucking around" one. Accompanied by a grinding drum and guitar intro, Nis Bysted, Felia Gram-Hanssen, and Niels Kristian Eriksen make their way in to the room, take up their equipment, and accordingly rip through four minutes of uncompromising power rock. The production on the appropriatley named, "Monster" is Butch Vig big, the vocals are delivered with sonorous detachment, and the guitar is tuned down and pushed into the red for awesomely slack and heavy 5-note riffage. Immersed in fetishised close-ups of guitars and amps, hair-flicks, closed-eyed headbanging et al, the track is drenched in seductive '90s swagger, whilst seeming to be far beyond any of those influences. As the video becomes increasingly bombarded by surreal iconography-- including riding on the back of a space eagle with amp and guitar in check-- Thulebasen exude further laid-back irreverance, the type that seems to indicate they care only to rock out, no more and no less. And in "Monsters", it shows in the best of ways. --Daniel Gottlieb, Altered Zones

MP3: Thulebasen: "Monster"

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