The semantic simplicity of the vast majority of songs in our favorite genres has never been a big problem, but I personally have always wanted something more narrative and “otherworldly” than the classic tracks of the Fathers. This is one of the reasons why I prefer sci-fi, but even here it’s not so smooth: the vast majority of bands sing about horror stories of category B. Sometimes you want a different look. How about mixing the story of Frankenstein’s monster with the world of David Lynch and Mark Frost? This is exactly what my old favorites, the Swedish cycobilly quartet Hot Rod Frankie, became famous for.
It all started with a completely different band, a different style, and different times. In 1984, the Ultima Thule group was founded in the Swedish province of Södermanland, which translates from Latin as “far north”. This band is the most famous representative of the Viking rock style. What is this style? Well, imagine ultra-patriotic Scandinavian punks who are passionate about their native history. The texts of such patriots are mostly in their native Swedish, but they are dedicated, oddly enough, to the Viking age, as well as to all kinds of nationalist views, of varying degrees of radicalism. Just in case, I condemn possible radicalism in advance. I do not know if it is there or how many, because I do not understand Swedish at all. Looking ahead, the sound of Ultima Thule is so similar to Hotrod Frankie in places that you can listen to everything together as one band. At first glance, the only differences will be in the presence of a double bass and the English-language texts of the latter.
So, in 2005, Jan Turnblom founded the band we are talking about today. Rather, he offers his Ultima Thule teammates to play different material, because the band’s line-up is completely identical. A year later, the band releases their first album, My Father Was A Madman. The first pancake, given the expertise of the pancake makers, did not come out in a lump, although the specific primitive sound can be mistaken for unintentional dampness. We have a concept album here, by the way. Almost a Cycobilly opera! It is entirely dedicated to the tragic story of Frankenstein’s monster, which develops over the course of twelve tracks, richly flavored with samples from an old movie. The hot rod here acts more as a comparison: on the face, the terrible, kind-hearted baby Frankie is also a kind of product of the custom culture.
Hotrod Frankie – Alone In The Woods
This peculiar debut album has a number of disadvantages. The Spartan sound is too Spartan: completely without frills. And in general, there is a feeling that at this stage the patriotic Vikings were just learning how to play saika. Everything is too measured and narrative, no wildness. Separately, I would like to mention the Frankies Intro and the final Dark Mountain as something of the most cycobilly in spirit, as well as the real powerful hit Alone In The Woods. In the latter, for the first time, there is a reference to Twin Peaks, which here is literally two mountain peaks called Lynch and Frost.
The next album, Lost in Lynchland, was released two years later and it’s a lot more fun. First of all, this is definitely a cycobilly, with a brisk tempo and double bass clicks, just as we like. At the same time, the identity has not gone away: the band is still confused with anyone, and now it is also difficult to confuse it with other projects of the same musicians. Secondly, there are a lot of references to the work of David Lynch, as you can guess from the album title. Bob I Am is about that silver-haired villain. The wonderful The Darkest Hour contains mentions of Blue Velvet, and the mysterious cowboy from Lynchland will also leave few people indifferent. All of this is intertwined with traditional brisk, psychotic horror films and is perceived very cheerfully.
In 2011, the album Discover, Discover, Recover was released, which consisted entirely of covers. And who haven’t the Frankensteins outplayed and destroyed? John Layton, Jace Everett with “Bad Stuff”, Hank Williams III, Ramones, Muse and this is not a complete list. This whole vinaigrette sounds original and fresh, no worse than the Bloodsucking Zombies in their New Year’s album. For a snack, the last track is a cover of ourselves, a more upbeat version of Alone In The Woods, which I personally recommend as a reference.
The next album, God, Gasoline & Me, is coming out in 2013. Developing the style of Lost in Lynchland, the band becomes even more cheerful on this record. Perhaps it is with this record that I recommend starting my acquaintance with Frankie’s work. There are also the absolutely unwinding Fire Walk With Me and Electric, the fatalistic A Sad Song and The World, and the gently waltzing Darkness in Her Room. The overall sound here balances well on the edge of clandestinity and sanity.
Hotrod Frankie – Darkness In Her Room
The subsequent creativity of the team embarks on difficult experiments, as it loses its main voice. By 2016, Janne was leaving both Hotrod Frankie and Ultima Thule. I don’t like vocalocentricity, but I have to admit that in this case, with a change of frontman, the music changes dramatically. In 2019, an album is being released under the name Mörkrets Drottning, and the band itself is called Hotrod Frankie And The Bride. However, only for the release of this record, but more on that later. Now the vocals are female, all the lyrics are in Swedish, and the overall sound is much softer, and resembles the parked Hillbilly Moon Explosion. The music is very mobile and melodic, but it has almost completely lost the harsh Nordic vibe that was present on previous albums.
Just the other day, the band released a new record, Last Strife, which contains reworked material from Mörkrets Drottning, but again from a male voice and in English. I’ll give you a more detailed comment later, but for now I can only say that this is quite decent music, but it’s too different. For me, Hotrod Frankie will remain within the framework of four records with Janne Turnblom for now.They are the ones attached to this article for review.
Download or listen online to the incomplete discography of Hotrod Frankie (mp3, 360 MB)
Summing up, I want to say that it was very interesting to immerse myself in the subcultural world of the Swedish countryside. This whole shtetl, where every musician has a lot of projects, interests and cockroaches in his head, is very close to the heart of everyone who has ever considered himself a member of any subculture or played in local bands. In an era of an artificially divided world, it’s worth remembering that we’re not all too different.
