You can’t help but respect a band with a guitarist who calls himself Hanz Panzer and a bass player named Don Fist. But really cool names are not the only reason to respect Norwegian punkrockers Skambankt. The quartet is Kaizers Orchestra guitarist Terje Winterstø’s side-project and – with Kaizers’ latest effort ‘Maskineri’ in mind – in some ways more interesting than Kaizers Orchestra.

“Skambankt” means something along the lines of “beaten to a pulp”, “smacked senseless”, “kicked around” (you get the picture?) and that is exactly what Skambankt will do to your ears, either with one of their ultra energetic live performances or this cool second album ‘Eliksir’.

Tejre Winterstø – or Ted Winters as he likes to call himself – and companions plays a contagious mix of classic rock‘n’roll, punk and hard rock with nods to bands like The Stooges, Ramones and Motörhead. The best track on the album, ‘Dynasti’ – a brilliant punk song with a guitar riff similar to a runaway freight train and a shouty chorus – could easily be a Motörhead-song if you ignore the fact that the lyrics are in Norwegian.

Cynics will state that all tracks on ‘Eliksir’ are basically variations of the same song. That’s not entirely true. Even though variation is not one of Skambankt’s foremost qualities, the Norwegians have a few tricks up their sleeves that make their songs admittedly simple but still more clever than your average run-of-the-mill punk song; the odd piano ploinking along in the background on ‘Dynasti’, and the subtle, but brilliant guitarwork on ‘Idyllillusjonen’, just to name a few.

Skambankt will enter Bekk Studio in Norway in September 2008 to begin recording their third full-length album, and according to the band they have “spent all their money on new guitars, amplifiers and fuzz pedals to satisfy even the most particular of rock enthusiasts!” Sounds promising.

Genre: Rock
Who: Skambankt
Title: Eliksir
Label: Tuba/DogJob
Year: 2007
Country: Norway
Language: Norwegian
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Recommended tracks:
Dynasti – Tyster – Idyllillusjonen – Min Eliksir