Heideroosjes
Chapter Eight Golden State EP
Another Dutch band (we’ve had a few recently) Heideroosjes purvey a modern punk/metal style, not dissimilar to moments on American Idiot. The album is a strong one and another with a strong start. ‘What If…’ and ‘My Funeral’ (in which singer Marco Roelofs wonders if visitors to his funeral will piss on his grave – who’s he upset then?) lock the listener in with humour, strong hooks and enough diversity to keep things interesting.
The Green Day vibe continues on ‘Lekker Belangruk’ which is the first point on the album in which my non-existent Dutch is tested to its limit. It won’t be the last.
‘Homesick For a Place That Does Not Exist’ and ‘I Don’t Wanna Wake Up’ offer more of the same Green Dayisms, and the suspicion begins to rise that this is all Heideroosjes have to offer. Granted, theirs is a good take on the seminal modern punk sound, but is imitation – when it is to this degree – really the sincerest form of flattery?
Political sloganeering on ‘All Your Government Does’, ‘Forgotten Continent’ and ‘Cash is King’ merely serve to show the lack of originality in the Heideroosjes canon. This sort of thing has all been done before, and better too. However, I suspect this is yet another band who would be great live, but who do not translate favourably on record.
Guest article from Haydon S.
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