Unless you count guitarist Nicke Andersson taking a turn in the Fred “Sonic” Smith spot during MC5-DKT’s 2004 tour, Sweden’s HELLACOPTERS haven’t played Chicago in four years. The album they come bearing this time is last year’s Rock & Roll Is Dead (Universal/Liquor and Poker)–and yeah, an awful lot of the great stuff is. The great dead rock ‘n’ roll in this case isn’t so much the MC5 or Johnny Thunders or even Bon Scott; the ghosts the Hellacopters seem to be channeling are Duane Allman and Ronnie Van Zant. When they try for sloppy, high-octane garage rock like they used to play in the old days, they don’t sound too inspired anymore, but they have a wicked good time maneuvering around rootsy, bitter, and wry southern blues rock like “No Angel to Lay Me Away” and “Leave It Alone.” Granted, the songwriting and vocals lie a lot flatter than Ronnie’s did, but you’re really here for the guitar playing anyway.
