Nelson Can

Nelson Can: They Indeed Can
Thursday, July 19, 2012


Roskilde Rising is an initiative by the Roskilde Festival to help promote Nordic bands and give them an opportunity to perform at one of Europe’s top festivals and as a result make a bigger name for themselves. It’s a fantastic idea and one that I wish festivals in this country would embrace. Among the acts is Nelson Can, an energetic all girl post punk trio renowned for their exuberance and energetic live shows. We interviewed them about how Roskilde Rising has helped them, which you can read about here. The trio also talked about their music, and because we’re so impressed, we’ve given them a listing on our site.

Apart from playing fantastic live shows, they’ve recorded a new EP that shows the intense innovation behind the band. Their inventive and original sound they explain comes from their desire for simplicity, in a similar fashion perhaps to early Pixies material. However the difference is that they’ve chosen not to use traditional instruments like the guitar and piano to lead the melody of their tracks and have chosen instead to use vocals, bass and drums to weave infectiously catchy melodies that stick in your head all day. The result is simple, yet still manages to have a dark and somewhat grandiose feeling that many Danish bands such as I Got You On Tape capture. Their EP features catchy songs such as the whistle along “Apple Pie”, the innovative and dark “People’s Republic of China” and my own personal favourite “Do you really wanna get rid of me?”

The band’s sound is somewhat an enigma; dark, yet joyous, simple, yet grandiose. They’re original, and having only performed for just over six months now are definitely going places. - St Paul's Lifestyle

It’s been a hectic day running about on last minute festival errands in the blistering London sunshine, hot, bothered and needing a drink…but much to my surprise when getting back into the Broccoli office the Nelson Can EP had finally arrived from Denmark!

We’ve become big fans of the all female Danish three piece since we got bantering with the girls on Twitter. It was one of those few and far between moments when you check out a recent follower and low and behold you have discovered an incredible band.

First track on the EP is ‘Apple Pie’, laden with a strong baseline and assertive vocals…

” I was sitting here, eating an apple, it was really good, in my mouth.”

Nelson Can have the ability to put a smile on your face with their quirky playful nature whilst maintaining a deep and dark sound, seriously reminds me of early tracks from The White Stripes.

[ -- http://youtu.be/TSkBJTsg1Mo -- ]

Track two is ‘People’s Republic of China’, massive track on the EP.

[ -- http://youtu.be/j31M3Qqj1_w -- ]

There has been such an incredible surge of all female and female fronted bands on the scene, creating new sounds that are breaking boundaries and setting the bar at new and exciting levels.

We’re in the opinion that Nelson Can are carrying on this trend, adding something new and previously unheard, continuing to move the music scene into unknown and eagerly anticipated places.



There’s three more tracks on the EP which we’re going to let you go away and discover all for yourself, this is a band you must check out. We’ll definitely be taking the EP on our festival road trips this summer!

Nelson Can debut EP was released on January 30th 2012 and is available in the UK on Itunes.
www.nelsoncan.com - Broccoli Events

Hele tre danske undergrundsnavne – en solist, en duo og en trio – er repræsenteret på nærværende udgivelse, og selv for en forbenet og reaktionær kritiker som undertegnede, som plejer at dele koncertoplevelser med 50+-segmentet, er der godter at hente.

Trioen, som tidligere lystrede det fjollede navn Niels På Dåse har genopfundet sig selv som Nelson Can, og her blæser de næsten anmelderen omkuld. Åbneren Apple Pie vækker interessen, og med People's Republic Of China er han allerede overbevist. Det, vi hører, er nogle af de stærkeste vokalpræstationer herhjemme i lang tid, kulminerende i det gentagne kampråb "People, there's a war going on!". Det er en Patti Smith værdigt, Iggy Pop vælter rundt i baghovedet, og når en af pigerne hvæser "Get it up, now" igen og igen, må enhver mand få præstationsangst. Hatten af herfra.

The Freudian Slip, alias Mikkel Benn og Noah Rosanes – som i øvrigt har produceret Nelson Cans bidrag – diverterer med en hektisk elektrorock med klare kvaliteter, mens Echo Me spiller følelsesladede, akustiske fortolkninger af fem af The Freudian Slips forlæg. Man må således vente på hans annoncerede debutalbum for at bedømme ham som sangskriver, men at dømme ud fra disse fire skæringer er stemmen i hvert fald til stede. I denne omgang står der dog 1-0 til pigerne i Nelson Can. Særdeles lovende, og utvivlsomt rigtigt fedt live. - GAFFA

De lidet seriøse Aarhus-grrrl-punkere i Niels På Dåse har ovenpå en årelang pause samlet mikrofonerne op igen, sadlet om, skiftet sprog og kalder sig nu efter en plat, men indlysende undersættelse af deres bandnavn Nelson Can. Med produceren Noah Rosanes fra The Freudian Slip i ryggen leverer de med deres nøgternt betitlede debut-ep under det nye dæknavn fem øvelser ud i, hvor forsvindende få virkemidler, man behøver at bolte ovenpå hinanden for at kunne kalde det musik.

Referencepunkterne hedder The Kills, White Stripes og Le Tigre, men altså skrællet helt ned til chassiset. De tre furiers vokaler ledsages oftest ikke af andet end raslende, staccato-grammatisk hulekvindepercussion, og så enten en på-tønden-anstrengt synth eller en tung, fuzzkvalt basgang. Det er råt for usødet, puritansk og skeletal punkminimalisme, som den skal skæres.

Den på én gang kælne og rasende 'Love the Dog' demonstrerer meget godt spændvidden – fra nummerets indledende, drilske »Ah-ha? / awoo-hoo!«-lokkekald til det tordnende tyfoniske crescendo i slutningen. Omvendt opkridter ep'en i sin helhed måske også lidt begrænsningerne for tøse-trekløveret. Når dens kvarterlange spilletid med den snottede 'Electricity' som pølseenderosin lakker mod enden har man det nemlig allerede som en familiefar med børnefødselsdags-tømmermænd, hvis møgunger har besluttet sig for at holde festen gående i fodenden af sengen, høje på rød sodavand og vingummier. Nelson Can nydes åbenbart bedst i korte, kontrollerede doser. Forslaget herfra må lyde at blive i ep-formatet, som passer pigerne fortrinligt. - Soundvenue