MP3: Viking Truckers - Love on the road
Okay, so I'm browsing through records in Stockholm and I come across the LP pictured above and hell no, there is no way in hell I'm gonna pass on this. Most of you out there are probably unaware, but besides Scandinavian music, I listen to a heckuva lot of country and a lot of that country also happens to be trucker music. My collection is by no means exhaustive, but I do have at least 7-8 CDs of the stuff and I'm always on the lookout for more. I'm not sure exactly when the trucker country genre came to be, but it sure took the world by storm with "Convoy" in the late 70s and it seems that even Sweden was not immune. Hence, Viking Truckers and their sole (?) full-length album "Love on the road". Just look at that cover! Those shirts! Those beards! Those bandannas! That Volvo bigrig! The band was actually a short-lived sideproject of Bob Lander from The Spotnicks along with Stefan Ericsson as co-conspirator/co-writer, a man whose background I am clueless about.
As for the music, well it's mostly straightforward early 80s country (very countrypolitan, not totally coked-out yet), except it's kinda weird in new, unexpected ways. I mean, I knew it wasn't going to sound like Red Sovine or Red Simpson, but listen to that bagpipe! On the very first song and title track! WTF?! But on the other hand, the pedal steel solo is solid and the lyrics are properly sleazy, just as it should be for the style. This is the sort of record where I can't really tell you that it's "good", but I sure am glad I bought it.
Viking Truckers - Love on the road