Militant Cheerleaders On The Move - Strike One

When the Swedish act Militant Cheerleaders On The Move came from nowhere and released their single 'Freaks' last year, they created a public outburst of joy (alright, at least in my apartment). It felt really nice to have a Swedish band that pushed the limits of the modern old-school EBM further, just like Fixmer/McCarthy as an example. It was with great expectations that I held their debut album 'Strike One' in my hand.

'Strike One' is a very mixed album if you look at the music part of it. It is promoted by their label Memento Materia in the same way. We get to hear a mix of electro, synthpop and techno inspired old-school EBM. The mix is a result of the two gentlemen's different backgrounds. One foot in the techno world and one in the electro/EBM world.

The album do contain some sweet tracks, he brutally heavy "Neuropa", "Absolute" and "My Flag". Synth popish "War" and "Lover" together with monotone and beat filled "Big Gun". Still they have chosen to leave the hit "Freaks" outside the track alternatives and the remaining feeling in my stomach is that something is missing and the band have to raise a bit to make this really great.

This review was written 2006 and initially published on Neurozine.com Jan 01 2006