It's no accident that one of the band members is wearing a Two-Tone T-shirt in that photo; Razika, a new Norwegian band, are clearly taking a few clues from the music released on the label of England's legendary Specials.
Razika may be young but they manage to blend disparate influences into an affecting whole. Styles bump into each other like kids slamdancing for the first time at a punk gig.
One can listen to this and play a guessing game about which bits came from where but, at the same time, that doesn't matter as these 4 girls are putting those pieces together in an entirely fresh way.
Of the tracks that I've heard so far, I think "Vondt I Hjerfet" is my favorite. Somehow it sounds a bit like Clare Grogran of Altered Images fronting Arctic Monkeys. On paper, that sounds like a big mess. It's not. The song is both beautiful and peppy, like a revved-up "Planet" by The Sugarcubes.
Vondt I Hjertet by Razika
Follow Razika on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Razika/6819889295
On MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/razika
And on the Smalltown Supersound, their label here.
