Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is something stirring in the deep heart of Sweden. Alongside Norway, Denmark and Finland, the music that is coming out those Nordic lands is becoming more and more relevant to how Europe and especially the U.K. is thinking about Pop/Rock/Metal. Not only is it relevant, it is extremely good and stunning to hear and Stockholm’s Rooni shows this new energy to be gaining more and more ground.

This young indie band struck a chord with those that made their way to the back room of The Cavern as they produced a set that throbbed with power and sent the static in the air running for cover, hiding away from tempest of sound that the Swedish group were sending out.

The hardest part of any new band making their way to the city is wondering whether they will be understood, whether the music they have bought along with them over many miles will be appreciated enough for them to go home and tell tales of the iconic musical city. The answer normally, mostly, nearly every time is that as long as they believe in themselves and do something just a little bit off the scale then it doesn’t matter what genre they play, the music will pull the Liverpool public in.

There were some real gems in Rooni’s set and the half hour the group from Sweden had seemed to take on a life of its own with songs such as Run (Into My Arms), Electricity, The Chemistry Between Us and the excellent Danny’s Gun. 

The nerves may have been taking hold in the pit of the stomachs at the thought of playing at The Cavern as part of the International Pop Overthrow but the men that had come from across the North Sea performed like troopers, never once wavering from their mission to show that Nordic music is on the up and up.

There will be those that will close their ears to anything new from those Northern countries, they will hark back decades and suggest that it is worth listening to unless it is one specific pop group who stormed Europe. Time has moved on, the music is sophisticated, enjoyable and in some ways without equal. Rooni will be amongst them when the time comes, a wonderful addition to the International Pop Overthrow this year.

Ian D. Hall