Indie/
hard rock/
pop band from Trondheim,
Norway, signed on the Mighty Stickman label.
Except for the Norwegian
black metal bands,
Motorpsycho is the best thing to come out of Norway since the Ostehøvvel
*. And it´s a just as well-kept
secret, too. Their music has evolved from
punkish hard rock through epic indie rock (if such a thing exists), to the alternative pop sound of their latest album. And they keep going on, and on...
Formed in 1989, they had the usual bad time finding a name for their would-be band. After watching a triple-feature of
Russ Meyer films, they decided to name it after one of them. And since both
Mudhoney and
Faster Pussycat were taken (both named after the two other films), they ended up with Motorpsycho. Initial line-up was Bent Sæther doing bass and vocals, Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan on guitars and vocals, and Kjell Runar "Killer" Jenssen beating the hell out of some drums. After the first album, Killer left and Håkon Gebhardt took his place, and those three have stuck together ever since. (Although many others have contributed: Deathprod, Lolly, Lars, Bård, etc..)
Their third album
Demon Box was their breakthrough and is considered a classic. But you can´t really name one of their albums as the best one: Each Motorpsycho fan (aka.
psychonaut) has its own favourites.
The lyrics are some of the best ever, IMHO. Just take a look at
Plan #1, off the Demon Box album.
Discography: (Albums are hard linked)
1990:
Maiden Voyage (mc)
1991:
Lobotomizer (lp)
1992:
Soothe (mini-lp)
8 Soothing songs for Ruth (cd)
Lobotomizer (cd)
3 Songs for Ruth (ep)
1993:
Demon Box (double lp/single cd (some songs are not on the cd version))
The Mountain Ep (cd-ep)
1994:
Another Ugly Ep (cd-ep)
Timothy's Monster (triple lp/ double cd)
Wearying Yr Smell (cd-ep)
Leave It Like That (cd-s)
1996:
The Nerve Tattoo (cd-ep)
Blissard (double lp/ cd)
Manmower (cd-ep)
1997:
Babyscooter (cd-ep)
Have Spacesuit Will Travel (cd-ep)
Angels & Daemons At Play (double lp/cd)
Starmelt Ep (cd-ep)
1998:
Ozone (cd-ep)
Trust Us (double cd/ double lp)
Hey, Jane (cd-ep)
Roadwork vol.1: Heavy Metall iz a poze, hardt rock iz a laifschteil! (cd/ double lp)
2000:
The Other Fool ep (cd-ep)
Let Them Eat Cake (cd)
Walkin With J. (cd-ep)
2001:
Roadwork vol.2: Live from Kongsberg Jazzfestival (cd)
Barracuda Ep (cd-ep)
Phanerothyme (cd)
*) Instrument for making slices of cheese.
Oh, and sorry about the formating, this is my first serious more-than-a-line writeup.