The Lust-O-Rama – TWENTY-SIX SCREAMS CD

The Lust-O-Rama… ah, just seeing the name in writing brings back memories of small half-empty clubs, awful sound systems, dressed up kids mistaking them for a mod band and fat plumber-assed grunge fans who went to the wrong gig. But also a lot of fun and a band that always gave everything. What more can be said about this inglorious Norwegian garage rock band that hasn’t been said before? They toured Germany, Holland and France. They supported The Gun Club, The Godfathers, The Fuzztones and loads more in Norway, but the pinnacle of their live performing career must be their last ever gig, playing an all-female admission gig at ROCKALL MUSIC PUB in Oslo in July 1992. The Lust-O-Rama were treading murky grungy waters during their existence. Formed optimistically in September 1989 and going out with a rather underwhelming and a quite embarrassing reputation in July 1992 after a string of singles, EP’s and compilation tracks on various labels around the world… and this album. Twenty-Six Screams, originally released by Skyclad Records in the US in 1991, is the pinnacle of Norwegian (did I hear European?) neo-sixties garage rock in the early 90s. A bauta in every sense of the genre. The Lust-O-Rama had close to it all… great songs, the sound, good looks, humble attitude, but nothing more. No management, no record company, no nothing. Just a bunch of guys playing the kind of music they loved. A few years later they would have been at the forefront of the new garage rock scene with the likes of The Hives. But history is a bastard, you hit it or you don’t. They didn’t, but thirty years on you can decide why they didn’t with this re-mastered edition of Twenty-Six Screams.