The Witzard

" Beachheads is a Power-Pop band from the west coast of Norway . This is their self-titled debut album. The spark that became Beachheads was first ignited on a tour bus, as Kvelertak members Vidar [Landa] (guitar) and Marvin [Nygaard] (bass) fantasized about the endless potential of fuzzy guitars, energetic drums, and good melodies. The two hard-working Kvelertak musicians had little time off and Beachheads endured as more of a favourite dream band on days off, than a "real" band," reads a fragmented chunk of BEACHHEADS' press text. While they've received wide-spread critical acclaim and have already garnered comparisons to " Big Star , Teenage Fanclub, and Punkier fare like The Replacements ," as Stereogum Senior Editor Tom Breihan perfectly puts it, but no one has seemed to compare Beachheads to their most fitting stateside musical counterpart, as I see it: New Brunswick, New Jersey 's own Heartland Rock/Folk Punk pride and joy...

It's become something of an annual tradition; every December, Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche picks his favourite year-end track, re-records his own unique version, and sends it over to Stereogum 's headquarters. This yule tide season, he's conjured up a sparse acoustic-laden cover of "Wrecking Ball," effectively eliminating any remaining ounce of TWERKIN', debauchery, and mega-studio sheen. But in it's own right, "Wrecking Ball" is an incredibly well-written, dare I say... modern day power-ballad (for lack of a better term), and maybe Sondre Lerche 's version can help some naive-minded listeners finally see that! In recent years past, Lerche has sent Stereogum staff writers a few interesting Animal Collective , Owen Pallet, and Beyoncé covers. "I had trouble finding [a song] that I felt truly motivated to interpret. So, while "Wrecking Ball" may not be my very favorite song of 2013, it turned out to be ...

"This year, it's officially a tradition: For the third time my annual Christmas gift to you is my humble solo acoustic version of someone else's song; My favorite of the year, no less. In 2011 there was a tie between two incredible songs ( "Changes" by Sandro Perri being the non- Beyoncé one), and both proved equally impossible to tackle or do justice to alone. But it's what I do, and there are worse jobs, so I did it. I took the liberty of making some gender-oriented changes to the lyrics to better accommodate my macho-persona (although I wouldn't dare tamper with Beyoncé's appeal to all women to show their man they are THE [FLYEST] simply by grinding "up on it girl, show him how you ride it"). That being said, the trick is to get passed the novelty-factor and just sing a beautiful song at the best of your abilities. Obviously, a significant part of this song's appeal and ecstatic energy comes from the dizzying vocal performance ...