The Hellacopters – Overdriver

The Hellacopters – Overdriver
Release Date:
31st January 2025
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Hard Rock, Rock ‘n’ Roll.
FFO: Backyard Babies, Glucifer, Rokets, The Drippers, Grand Royale.
Review By: Paul Franklin

Someone once said that they were looking forward to getting older, as it meant they could “do whatever they liked!”. Now whilst there are a few obvious legal and moral caveats that must be applied to that statement, importantly there are also some liberating elements of truth to it. Namely no longer having to be dictated to by the ever fickle expectations of an acerbic trend-obsessed culture and the enviable freedom of being in the position where you have no one to please but your own damn self. Which is where we find The Hellacopters on their ninth album.

Overdriver is the second album in the second chapter of the Swedish rockers story following their 2018 revival, and like its predecessor Eyes of Oblivion, it showcases a band relaxed and comfortable enough to move further away from the raw, punky garage rock of their debut whilst still embracing classic 70’s rock ‘n’ roll. Hence, following the opening mid-paced stomp of Token Apologies and the catchy melodic groove of Don’t Let Me Bring You Down, the band show their soulful side on (I Don’t Wanna Be) Just A Memory, and their appreciation of Red Kross-esque pop melodies when they ask the question Do You Feel Normal?

Wrong Face On and Faraway Looks alleviate any concerns that the old, gnarled garage rock roots have been completely severed, the pair being no nonsense, straight up rockers. 

The Stench emits a bluesy fug before the grand finale of Leave A Mark, a succulent five-minute encapsulation of everything the band has to offer in 2025, with some lyrics that may seem more than a little familiar (especially if you’re a Springsteen fan!). 

As with its aforementioned predecessor, some may find Overdriver’s refinement compared to their earlier albums a disappointment. Indeed, in the comments for the video below, there is a suggestion that it sounds better if you play it at 1.25x speed. It certainly sounds more like a track that would have featured on their debut Supershitty To The Max, but that’s missing the point. That album is 30 years old, and if you want to hear something that sounds like that then go and listen to any of the hundreds of bands that over the last couple of decades have been (and still are being) influenced by The Hellacopters.

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

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