Millencolin

This steaming EP boasts eight tracks, three of which -- "No Cigar," "Penguins & Polarbears," and "Fox" -- previously appeared on Millencolin's Pennybridge Pioneers album. Those first two songs turn up a second time in smoking live versions, recorded in February 2000 at the Hi-Fi Bar in Melbourne, Australia. Place the EP in your computer, and there the pair is again, this time in video form. Thankfully, both songs are strong enough to withstand this multiplicity. Of course Pennybridge raised a lot of fans' eyebrows, as the Swedish quartet shifted away from their previous Two Ton-esque style, and the new songs here fit that more punk-fired mold. Indeed, "Kemp" moves virtually out of the punk arena altogether and onto the heavy metal stage. A rabble-rousing hard rocker with big chords and a screaming guitar lead, is this the Millencolin of the new millennium? Perhaps not, for in contrast, "Queen's Gambit" is an invigorating old-school-meets-new-school number, with a touch of angst-ridden indie drone thrown in for good measure, while "Dinner Dog" returns the group to speedy melodic punk form. So, no definite answers, then, on the form Millencolin's musical evolution will take. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide