CHEERLEADER – ‘Vegas Or Bust’

 Angry Shark Records 2012

Cheerleader are not to be typecast as just Scandinavian rock as these boys don’t quite fit into that mould, and that is a good thing. Hailing from Sweden the band has a bigger sound than most bands currently emanating from that region, and within the 9 tracks on their self produced debut album “Vegas or Bust” you can hear influences such as Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, The Foo Fighters and even maybe U2.

Comprising of brothers Joel and Niklas Ek (vocals/bass and guitar respectively), guitarist Joan Vieru and drummer Andreas Westerlund, the band was formed in 2009 and have spent the time since crafting their sound and writing material for this debut effort. Full of energetic, catchy songs, the highlights on “Vegas or Bust” include “What’s So Hard”, “Arrange”, “Generation Shit” – which you can almost imagine Michael Monroe singing , “Wasted Hours” and the punk edged “Wherever You May Be”. 

Acoustic sing along number “The Pirate Song” is oddly placed in the middle of the album and almost disturbs the flow of the record- it would have worked better maybe as the last track- apart from that the only downside to “Vegas or Bust” is the fact that at 9 tracks it leaves you wanting to hear more.

The band has recently supported Warrior Soul on their UK tour and will no doubt be back on these shores in the near future.

 ***1/2

Nikk Gunns


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