As is the case with other groups such as, for example, the also Swedish The Hives (who have just announced their first album in eleven years), Mando Diao They might seem like one of those groups that release albums from time to time with the excuse of continuing to give a live show, especially under the protection of festivals around the world. However, those from Borlänge are quite prolific when it comes to publishing new material, sometimes with more skill than others. In this case, ten songs and barely half an hour of music are enough background to certify that Mando Diao they are able to keep putting out interesting titles, as well as a handful of standout songs that could become part of the Scandinavians’ regular onstage repertoire.
They achieve it with a work in which guitars and an indie-rock with a marked soul soul once again claim the main role, discarding those elements tending towards electronics that at some point they saw fit to use, to reactivate an electric and generous realism in riffs. . The result is a short, effective and well-matched work, dominated by pieces of barely three minutes that have a majority of hits, unoriginal of course, but which, launched with conviction, avoid going out of fashion. The batch includes an initial trio of potential singles such as the one made up by halftime “Wake Up” and the balls “Frustration” (with echoes to Foo Fighters) and “Stop The Train”.
An encouraging start to which other pieces such as “Get It On”, “Primal Call”, “Animal” and, above all, a “Fire In The Hall” Ideal for lighting the wick in contact with the tables. Actually, almost any cut from the decalogue here pressed -from that “Rabadam Ching” in which they partially play Depeche Mode to the final “Loner” confirming the good taste in the mouth– it works between the indicated parameters, leaving an LP with an agile rhythm and an active pulse. Far from seeking transcendence, Mando Diao They bet once again on the value of the immediate impact of the here and now, in a play that they still know how to develop without fail.
Although sometimes the evidence that the group insists on remembering over and over again is ignored and it seems that its moment of greatest glory (or, at least, of media coverage) may have been left behind (with the shadow of its theme “Dance With Somebody” always appearing on the horizon with the threat of leaving them for history as a ‘One hit wonder band’ before popular opinion), Mando Diao They are still a good band, which manages an offer suitable for the most colorful classic rock fan. Above all, when they park other elements and focus on making an old-school revival album as the present turns out to be. “Boblikov’s Magical World”, perhaps its roundest and also vertical delivery in a long time.