Norwegian retro rockers Electric Woodland delve deep into 70s rock with this, their debut release, the 'Electric Woodland EP'. Their influences range from Sabbath and The Doors to the more modern day retro acts such as The Black Keys.

First track 'Midnight Treasure' is very Deep Purple indeed, it has a classic 70s rock groove, the vocals of Vegard Ertsaas, while retaining a classic sound, have a certain edge to them due to the Norwegian accent which works quite nicely. It's a solid effort and a good start. 'Sharp Angle' again follows the same groove, a familiar riff and melody and, although nothing new, iscatchy. 'Another Brick in Your Puzzle' is more interesting, delving more into indie/pop territory with a nice bit of acoustic and some banjo action underneath, giving it a slight country feel. It has an interesting arrangement and a decent melody, and is a personal highlight.

'Manimal' starts with a great arpeggio riff and a very Doors-like verse unfortunately let down by the cheesy sounding chorus - with a bit of re-arrangement though it could be a great song. It does however have some of the funniest lyrics of the year, such as "You're pretty ugly and you look like a guy, but tonight I'm gonna take you home" - maybe a homage to the desperation of pulling a 2am bird.

Electric Woodland show a lot of promise with this debut EP, the first two songs are solid, no frills rockers but the other two are much more interesting, I do however feel the melodies, especially in the choruses, could do with a bit more work. With so many bands doing this style of retro rock the competition is very high, but put them in a studio with a good producer and I see no reason why they could not deliver the goods.

www.myspace.com/electricwoodland