Planet Notion - Ungdomskulen

Ungdomskulen means ‘youth school’ in English which goes someway to understanding the band’s (seriously cool) delinquent sound. When we say delinquent, we don’t mean it in a bad way. It’s not like the opening credits of the ‘Clangers’ or ‘Teenage Turtles’ rap, its rock with a hard-edged innocence; like a fat kid given three-months in Borstal for nicking a pen-knife, just so he could chop up an apple as part of his healthy diet routine. It’s music undefined by boundaries, breaking limitations, and packing a punch outside the box. Anyway, the Norwegian threesome formed in 2000 with a sound made solely of guitar, bass, drum and vocals. They originally called themselves ‘Standing Ovation’ but, realising they were probably being a little optimistic, changed their name to ‘Goddammit’ (probably because they were pissed with not getting a standing ovation). Then they settled on the whole ‘Youth School’ shebang which represents that period of transition from boy to man. The lads have played in places like America and are shortly making a return to ‘Blighty’ for an upcoming tour with the Young Knives. Ungdomskulen also have new single ‘Modern Drummer’ coming out soon with a really cool and trippy video. Imagine being stuck in a computer game with a guy that looks like a bear, firing at aliens with groovy guitar licks while his mate bangs the drums like a nutcase and a bass player covers his back on a backdrop of psychedelic colours and crunching sound, and you’re only halfway there. ‘Modern Drummer’ is an ode to the drummer and the way that gadgets are taking over his role and stuff and how, like, that’s not a good thing because nobody can play the drum like the fucking drummer, right?! Ungdomskulen: Three crazy Norwegians pounding out funky, furious, fast-paced rock that addresses subjects that truly matter. Check out their MySpace! Words: Dave Dryden