CD Reviews

Mando Diao

Ode to Ochrasy | Mute

By EMILY ZEMLER | May 8, 2007

2.0 Stars

The rollicking rock of Mando Diao’s previous album, Hurricane Bar, slotted the Swedish group somewhere among the Strokes, the Hives, and Franz Ferdinand. It was a decent start, but you couldn’t help hoping for a follow-up with a stronger sense of identity, with songs that would go beyond mere catchy garage-rock revivals. Hurricane Bar featured some memorable tracks (“God Knows,” “White Wall”) and gave the band perfect material for their live show, but it didn’t go anywhere new. Ode to Ochrasy is a little more energized, but Mando Diao still aren’t breaking fresh ground. “Long Before Rock ’N’ Roll,” the first single, apes the oft-imitated guitar riff from Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life”; not even the catchy chorus, driven by dueling vocals, can compensate. And as if that weren’t enough of an Iggy connection, there’s “Tony Zoulias (Lustful Life),” a rhythmically fast-paced number, coming out of the same garage as “God Knows.” If the calmer tracks — the aching “Josephine,” the slow-building “Amsterdam” — are light on hooks, they at least reflect a more personal side of the band.

Mando Diao + Pop Levi + The Films | T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline Street, Cambridge | May 19 | 617.492.BEAR