Unflappable ’00s chart stars The Rasmus bounce back with tuneful, layered album of professionally steered soft rock.
Fame can strike at any point. It was In The Shadows, from fifth album Dead Letters, that broke The Rasmus internationally in 2004. The Finnish band had hit on something, mixing goth, nu-metal and pop into a cocktail audiences wanted. The song has a weighty 140 million views on YouTube, and while it’s no surprise that they have never replicated that success, it established the blueprint they’ve worked from ever since.
Eleventh album Weirdo is a continuation of that art, and one that ticks all key boxes. Take opener Creature Of Chaos, a grunge-lite riff building to an easily accessible hook, or Break These Chains, another user-friendly mix of soft and hard erupting into a rousing chorus. Sure, there’s a few token ‘fucks’ in the lyrics to make things seem edgier than they are, but The Rasmus are going for quick thrills, wrapped in exorbitant production. Rest In Pieces and Bad Things also have that juddering collision of riffs, keyboards and lush hooks.
It’s no surprise that veteran songwriter and producer Desmond Child has been the Gandalf in The Rasmus’ hobbit-like mischief. In the late ’80s, he seemed to be behind every mainstream rock hit (working with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, KISS and Bonnie Tyler, to name but a few), until that scene’s increasingly sticky overkill got its comeuppance via Kurt Cobain and Seattle. While his guiding hand looms large, Dead Ringer could virtually be Australian pop duo Savage Garden, and the funky pop and whistling that underpin Love Is A Bitch make it one of those quirky rock offerings that might just as easily top the charts as disappear into obscurity.
The album ends with a slick but uninvolving ballad called I’m Coming For You, the glossy mediocrity of which could, again, make it a huge hit. Love this soppy finale or not, Weirdo has long since made its point. If you miss the massed harmonies of yore, the new album by The Rasmus is the rescue vehicle you’ve spent the past 35 years waiting for.
Verdict: 3/5
For fans of: My Chemical Romance, Starset, Bon Jovi
Weirdo is released on September 12 via Better Noise
