Concert review of the Underworld-gig / 2000-04-15 taken from the
website of the British magazine
NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS, 2000-05-03.
English. Found at the NME-site by Nils Erik Dahlen / Tomm Eriksen.

Motorpsycho succeed where most Scandinavian rock groups fail. While Backyard Babies and The Hellacopters wipe the floor with most acts of their ilk, there's still a sense that the whole point is to do little more than offer a religious reverence to US rock'n'roll.

After eight albums, Motorpsycho have honed their sound into an experimental collage, which sees them cutting and pasting riffs from the last 40 years. Tonight's set features snatches of The Lovin' Spoonful, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Beach Boys and Led Zeppelin.

What's more, with the release of their 'Let Them Eat Cake' LP, it seems Motorpsycho are finally closer to the size of audience their soft-focus, psychedelic garage rock deserves. It's well-crafted enough to appeal to the discerning psych-rocker but full of tunes so radio-friendly that Travis fans could shake a leg.

Take the 'Pet Sounds' pop of 'Big Surprise' - it's performed with note-perfect harmonies and such innocent zeal that you're left in no doubt of Motorpsycho's honourable intentions. In the hands of lesser souls, tonight's numerous wig-outs would be deathly dull (we're thrown note-perfect Miles Davis riffs in the middle of current single 'Walkin' With J') yet somehow it makes sense. Motorpsycho have obviously thought about this a lot. And though ultimately they're doing nothing new, such an infectious love for music can't help but move and shake you.

Andy Capper