Anyone who suspects that OSLO ESS comes from Oslo is of course completely right. Since they sing in their mother tongue, I can only make assumptions about the lyrics, as Norwegian is known to be a North Germanic language and shows parallels to Danish and Low German. Therefore, with a bit of imagination, one can guess some lyrics from their second album “Verden På Nakken, Venner I Ryggen,” such as “Kakerlakkene,” “God Morgen,” “Gaselle i Tigerstaden,” or “Over Stokk, Over Stein.” By the way, the album title translates to: “World on Your Neck, Friends at Your Back,” which sounds familiar (I hope I translated it correctly), and now that you know, you can also read it from the original title.
But now let’s get to the music, and this small country Norway has already produced many great bands, given its population size (< 5 million, which translates to 14 inhabitants per km² [Germany has almost 20 times as many]), from A-HA and APOPTYGMA BERZERK to THEATRE OF TRAGEDY and TURBONEGRO. The last great band can be most closely compared to OSLO ESS, although OSLO ESS presents their rock music in a much poppier manner. Nevertheless, or perhaps precisely because of this, a new shining star is rising in Norway with OSLO ESS. “Verden På Nakken, Venner I Ryggen” managed to stay in the Norwegian Top 10 for four weeks, even reaching the pole position for one week. Now the album is available worldwide, and since their award-winning debut album “Uleste Bøker og Utgåtte Sko” from 2011, OSLO ESS has been touring the world. OSLO ESS has not been around for long; the four Norwegians, who perform live with an additional drummer, have only been active since 2010.
Now to the album, which impressively starts with the punk rock-infused “Kakerlakkene.” The following four songs, including the successful pre-release single “Caroline,” are also enjoyable. The songs rock splendidly on melodic harmonies and are quite varied with their ska affinities, piano and synthesizer tones, and ripping guitar riffs. However, starting from the sixth song, the tracks drift into shallow waters and become noticeably poppier, slower, weaker, and just go with the flow...
With the second to last of the 10 songs “Tøffe Gutter,” it goes back into a punk rock sprint, which then ends with the harmonica (North Frisian?) song “Over Stokk, Over Stein” after 29 minutes of playtime.
Unfortunately, I do not have a booklet, which would have really interested me. Too bad, this adds another point deduction to the already weak second half of the album.
