THE DISCIPLINES. VIRGINS OF MENACE. NEW ALBUM TRAILER. from SGRANG on Vimeo.

August, 2008: on the mainstage of the Øya Festival, Norway’s biggest and hippest musical gathering, teenagers are pressing themselves to the front barrier in anticipation of hearing THE DiSCiPLiNES, who at this moment have topped the Norwegian charts with a rather sweet ballad called “Oslo”. There’s no video, and the artwork for their album, “SMOKiNG KiLLS” has no band photos. What was coming their way? Simply based on the strength of the single, the band is at a prime slot right before the National and Sonic Youth. The TV cameras from the national broadcaster switch on, and 4 well dressed young men come onstage: ties and tasteful, fashionable looks.

40 minutes later, the band was a legend. Instead of ballads, the audience got the DiSCiPLiNES at their finest–cliche free grinding garage rock married to melodies that make ABBA sound like one-note wonders, with singer Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, Big Star, R.E.M. etc) contorting, climbing down barricades…even running so far that he ran out of the festival grounds altogether, still screaming into his mic…guitarist Bjorn Bergene karate kicking some unseen enemy, bassist Baard Helgeland and drummer Ralla giving the cement foundation to the burning house that is perhaps the last greatest rock & roll band.

Coming off tours for the Posies 2005 “Every Kind of Light” album and the end of Bjorn & Baard’s chart topping band Briskeby, these four veterans of meticulously crafted, deliciously melodic pop all chose to make the white lightning moonshine to their previous bands’ form of elegant fine wine. They set up some recording gear in an Oslo rehearsal space and banged out an album that went on to receive accolades and rack up some serious radio airplay. However, it’s the band’s live performances that blew minds and sealed the band’s sterling reputation. Appearing on festival and club stages in Scandinavia, the UK, France, the USA, Canada, South America and more….the dapper Mr. Stringfellow dresses like Bryan Ferry but writhes, squirms and pretzel-bends himself to a degree that would make Iggy Pop fold his cards. The band was tapped for support tours with R.E.M. and Snow Patrol, and THE DiSCiPLiNES quickly became a festival headliner in Norway.

And now, the band returns with an album that, were justice part of the equation, would have Led Zeppelin asking them for lessons. “ViRGiNS OF MENACE”, recorded in the arctic fishing port of Tromsø, is a staggering masterpiece of venomous, broiling, face-melting garage rock, but garage rock infused with the hooky pop melodies that Posies fans will recognize. Featuring a spoken word rant by punk poet Lydia Lunch, VoM is already getting a strong UK buzz, promoters from Peru to Perth are lining up to book the band. With Stringfellow coming off a banner year supporting the Posies critically acclaimed “Blood/Candy”, THE DiSCiPLiNES hope to bring 2011 to its knees.