The Hellacopters
Cream Of The Crap! Collected Non Albums Works Volume 3
Nuclear Blast Records
A good compilation can be more representative of a band’s modus operandi than a regular album and give an authentic insight into a group’s inner machinations (often times it’s more fun; I’d choose Best Of Blondie over Parallel Lines any day). The Hellacopters third such compendium, Cream Of The Crap!, finds Sweden’s premier garage band in looser mode and blasting out a fuzzed-up mixture of cover versions and original tunes. Of the former, there are a few surprises (The Temptations and two by Smokey Robinson) alongside more obvious picks, including speaker-melting versions of ‘American Ruse’ (MC5) and ‘I’m Eighteen’ (Alice Cooper). It’s to The Hellacopters credit that their own songs sit easily amongst such illustrious company, mainly because they’re delivered with the same kind of amphetamine-fuelled energy and with a foot heavy on the distortion pedal. As will become immediately apparent, the title of this album is very self-effacing because Cream Of The Crap! serves up twenty-four tracks (many for the first time in digital format) that are all killer and devoid of filler and finds The Hellacopters flying the listener straight to musical heaven.
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Review by Peter Dennis