Formed in  2004, apparently “as a reaction to the growing Turbonegro wannabe scene in Oslo”, comes Accidents Never Happen. I presume that they mean due to the relative success of the Norwegian death-punks the local scene was cluttered with bands trying to ride on Turbonegro's  coat-tails. Accidents Never Happen have therefore consciously forged their own direction to differentiate themselves and they've definitely succeeded. If you like your rock of a angular alt-rock variety and you hanker for the early eighties output from PIL and Gang Of Four then step this way. 

Accidents Never Happen have brought us some "Oslo Beat". The name Oslo Beat was originally used to describe their music and the band then adopted it for the title of this, their debut. With this record they have produced a worthy addition to the, admittedly rather small, body of work that comprises this particular genre. Sitting nicely next to the recent releases from the likes of Fony or Dartz this album certainly doesn't come across as the work of four Norwegians. The reason for this is that the main protagonists of this style of music have almost exclusively been British, with the odd American thrown in for good measure, and Accidents Never Happen have clearly been totally immersed in British alt-rock since the heady days of The Fall, Joy Division and Television all those years ago. So much so that the entire band were planning to relocate to England in January this year - probably Manchester on the strength of their influences. 

Opener “Killer Boots” demonstrates this nicely with the dissonant guitars pushing dynamically against the strident bass and insistent drums, very similar in feel to U2 circa “Boy” or “October” in fact. The drums are to the fore again in the intro to “The Outrageous Lie” which shifts tempos around on top of a sinuous bass line and impassioned vocal, great stuff! 

It doesn't all work however, and sometimes its just that there's been too much added to a track. The best example of this is “How To Fuck Up A Cup Of Coffee” which started brightly with its rollicking intro and a couple of time changes but it hits a stumbling block when the spoken vocal enters at about 1 minute 30 and it never really recovers the impetus of the song after that, shame really as it had started so well.   

These gripes are few and far between though and, in the main, Accidents Never Happen have delivered a cracking alt-rock record that can certainly stand tall amongst anyone else currently peddling this kind of intentionally uneasy listening, if they could hook up with a band like YOURCODENAMEIS:MILO for a tour for example there would be a great evening of difficult rhythms and odd time changes to be had.

Let us know your views on 'Oslo Beat'

Track Listing

Killer Boots
The Outrageous Lie
Have A Drink On Me
How To Fuck Up A Cup Of Coffee
Beautiful People Don't Fall In Love
Saturday Night
Hint
The Girl Who Loved Too Much
White Noise
Yearbook Handsome
 

Line Up

Christian - Drums
Magne - Vocals/Guitar
Martin - Guitar
Sondre - Bass