“IF YOU were there and you didn’t like it, you might as well stay home on concert nights. There exists no better live injection of musical bliss than the one Honningbarna supplies.”
So said Nordic music website By:Larm.no about the Norwegian punk phenomenon that is Honningbarna, the five-man group, still in their early-20s, whose singer is sometimes known to play a cello, while around him rages guitar, bass, and drums of exhilarating intensity, and lyrics of political anger and commitment.
Honningbarna - the name means ‘honey children’ in Norwegian - are Edvard Valberg (vocal, cello ), Lars Emmelthun (bass ), Christoffer Trædal (guitar ), Fredrik Justnes (guitar ), and Nils Nilsen (drums ). They are also regular visitors to Galway and return this Thursday to the Róisín Dubh to play Strange Brew at 11pm.
On the night they will perform songs from their forthcoming album Opp De Nye Blanke - which is released on Friday January 30 - as well as from their previous releases Honningbarna (2010 ), La Alarmane Gå (2011 ) - winner of a Spellemannsprisen (the Norwegian equivalent of a Grammy ) for best rock album - and Verden En Enkel (2013 ). In a move that stands against the homogenisation of culture, they almost never sing in English.
The band have won critical acclaim in Britain for their exciting live performances. The Fly said they are “so good they could have been genetically modified to be the voice of a modern punk generation”. The Quietus declared: “Frontman Edward Valberg is a convulsive mixture of Paul Weller and Ian Curtis. Even from behind his band’s gimmick, a cello, he screams with a righteous, bug-eyed fury.” Drowned In Sound called them a "a bundle of aggressive fun”; while State.ie enthused: “a Panzer division in the shape of Norwegian band Honningbarna take to the stage. These guys are simply incredible.”
Admission is Free. See www.roisindubh.net
