EP REVIEW: Lars Frederiksen – To Victory (Pirates Press Records)
Lars Frederiksen isn’t a man who believes in taking it easy. As well as being in Rancid, one of the world’s biggest punk bands, for nearly 30 years, his cup is overflowing with other projects.
At the last count he was in six active bands. Well, now make that seven, because this is his first outing as a solo artist.
The path from band member to lone guitar-slinger is a well-worn one, and many musicians have done it successfully, though none, perhaps, with as much gusto as Lars.
He’d just played his first Billy Bragg-style solo gig – just him and his guitar – when the pandemic hit, so how else to respond than by recording stripped-down versions of a bunch of your favourite songs.
This six-song EP sees Lars presenting his own takes on six tracks, either from bands he’s been in or favourite covers. If you’re expecting a toned-down acoustic set, don’t bother with this album. If you want Lars giving it plenty, as he always does, this is a must-have for your collection.
It kicks off with God & Guns, a song he wrote for The Old Firm Casuals, which comes complete with piano, and follows with a corruscating version of the Army Of Zombies, one of the most popular songs by his side project the Bastards.
Next up is Tomorrow’s Girls, a UK Subs track Lars loves following a brief spell with the London punk legends when he was 19. It’s a fine version, and I’m sure Charlie Harper approves.
Motherland, another Casuals song, is next, and it’s one particularly close to his heart, as he dedicates it to his mother Minna, who died last year.
Comin’ Home, by 70s rockers Kiss, might seem an unusual choice, but Lars explains in his sleevenotes that it’s one of his favourite songs of all time, and he certainly does it justice.
Closing out the short but sweet set is another of his own compositions, Skunx, the very first song he wrote for the Bastards. He says it is the perfect choice to end the record with, and he’s not wrong.
He also promises there’s more to come, and mentions that he chose these six songs out of 16 he recorded. A full-length album to follow perhaps. Let’s hope so. 8/10.
