Muso’s Guide Presents… Ungdomskulen

Ungdomskulen

There are a number of superficial factors one could mediate on when discussing the wonderful Ungdomskulen, possibly the best band to ever come out of Norway.

Firstly there’s the unwieldy, yet mysterious name (literally “youth school” in their native tongue). Secondly there’s their slightly unusual look: singer/guitarist Kristian Stockhaus combined enormous sideburns with tight green jeans when I last saw them and bassist Frode Kvinge Flatland sports a fetching quasi-Fu Manchu moustache. But discussing this any further would be getting away from the excellent music that they make. Imagine, if you will, the inaccurately-described ‘math rock’ of Foals, but stripped of all its joyless posing and made much more complex and interesting. Combine it with the progressive energy of King Crimson or Rush, the hard-hitting crunch of Fugazi and be sure to add in lots of body-shaking new wave goodness.

But presenting Ungdomskulen as a simple mix of other bands is to do them a disservice, for the beautiful noise they make, treading the line between chaos and control, is anything but a derivative mix. The drums are focused yet explosive when they need to be, Øyvind Solheim busting out impressive cowbell rolls when he needs to: check out the marvellous, aptly-named ‘Modern Drummer’ for evidence of this. The guitar can be smooth, spiky, enormous, or anything inbetween. Live Flatland played a baritone guitar, an unusual choice of instrument, which made the interplay between him and Stockhaus all the more dynamic and interesting. And as good as they really are on record, live is definitely the place to best experience them. When the band is having more fun than the audience, you know they’re doing something right.

However, until then you’ll have to make do with the records. Their second full length Bisexual came out this year, and is destined to become your favourite record of the year by a band that no-one else has heard of. Seriously, listen to the slippery, immediately catchy opening to ‘I Dunno’ and tell me I’m wrong. Then go and listen to the marvellously epic, punchy ‘Ordinary Son’ off their first album and tell me Ungdomskulen won’t dominate your listening for a week at least. It’s about time Norway had something better to represent its music scene than Black Metal or this year’s overrated Eurovision entry and, luckily, Ungdomskulen are just that. Listen now, or miss out.

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