Tender Is The Savage

Gluecifer

Sub Pop Records, 2000

http://www.gluecifer.net

REVIEW BY: Chris Harlow

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/20/2000

Punk rock……Garage rock……Gutter rock……Heavy Metal……

Whatever you want to call it doesn't matter, I suppose. What is undeniable is that in this scene emerging today out of Scandinavia are elements of a retro, supercharged melding of sounds and attitudes reminiscient of bands from the hard rock era of the seventies-bands such as The Stooges, MC5, and Ted Nugent.

Norway's own Gluecifer exemplifies the best traits of this genre of rock and roll with their most recent release, Tender Is The Savage. Loud but discernible guitar riffs and lead breaks with a battery of anthemic choruses will make anyone so inclined to give this album a listen, reach to crank up the volume. Needless to say, this is high octane stuff.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

The message Gluecifer and vocalist Biff Malibu want you to get from listening to Tender Is The Savage is how to best cope with life while wearing a chip on one's shoulder and presumably with a sense of humor.

The first track, "I Got A War", launches into the simple task of capturing a first person perspective in regards to the emotions of a relationship gone sour. With lyrics screaming to "grab your chair" because "you're gonna need a shield" and that "I'll be digging my trench" to "get me out of this stench" one easily catches on to the bands comic bravado.

Perhaps it is this sense of lyrical arrogance that makes this album an enjoyable anthem of growing up and living life or could it be the dual guitars of Captain Poon and Raldo Useless????

The tracks, "Drunk And Pompous" and "The General Says Hell Yeah" offer the listener the opportunity to get in line and do what Gluecifer does so well and that's to go from "being a dreamer" to "being a SCREAMER", suggestions both songs offer up. In fact, the first testosterone filled anthem challenges everyone to recognize the benefits of being the subject in a "me-first" world. With lines like "I was born to rule" and "you were born to drool" there is absolutely no mistake. The second aforementioned anthem offers up such advice as to "salute the General or you'll have to be shelled to hell".

Gluecifer does have the ability to slow things down and capture a blues-based feel with their songs, all while not disenfranchising the listener from it's core hell-bent sound. "Red Noses, Shit Poses" and the last track "Exit At Gate Zero" do this wonderfully.

Tender Is The Savage is a two disc release. The first is the studio album followed by a short secondary disc of live tracks (three songs) including the first single and enhanced video off the album, "I Got A War". What I noticed was the band's sound was as raw and consistent live as it was on this studio release.

One would imagine that with the stage names of the band members coupled with the creativity in the arrangements and messages of the lyrics, Gluecifer doesn't attempt to put the proverbial weight of the world on their shoulders in efforts to shape society with its lyrical messages. That in itself underscores two of the key elements in rock and roll……keeping it simple and making it fun.

Rating: B+

User Rating: Not Yet Rated


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© 2000 Chris Harlow and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Sub Pop Records, and is used for informational purposes only.