The Hellacopters

Cream Of The Crap! Collected Non-Album Works • Volume 3

It seems incongruous to be writing about the Hellacopters 30^th anniversary when we still see them as the side project of Entombed drummer, Nicke Andersson. He left the Swedish death metal band in '98 to focus full time on the Hellacopters, and although he has since rejoined Entombed, it seems unlikely they will have another purple patch to match their incredible run of albums from Left Hand Path to To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth. They even injected rock ‘n’ roll into their metallic melange in an effort to hold on to the drummer/songwriter but the draw of the Hellacopters pure hard rock energy proved too much and he left to front the energetic, garage infused Swedish Grammy winners.

Your mileage may differ on collections of odds and sods. This album has 24 non album tracks released between 1995 & 2004,and includes covers ranging from Smokey Robinson and Wilson Pickett, through Bob Seger and Alice Cooper, to Ramones and Motorhead. We’ve a soft spot for these sorts of compilations ; Joy Divisions Substance, The Smiths Hatful of Hollow, and System of a Downs Steal This Album are among the best recordings those bands ever made.

If you’re wondering if Cream Of The Crap! Volume 3 is up there in such revered company, it isn’t. If you’re starting on your own Hellacopters adventure, try their latest album or their breakthrough Supershitty to the Max. This one is for completists only.

At 24 tracks, it becomes a bit of a slog. These songs were obviously not recorded to be listened to back to back, and it is quickly evident that many of these are spare, throwaway tracks. The whole enterprise is a bit one note with little in the way of stylistic or dynamic variation.

Where these tracks come into their own is mixed into a playlist. The Hellacopters trademark hard rock and garage delivery and Anderssons blend of old school rock no roll with more modern sounds work well when it pops up on shuffle. What’s more, there are at least ten very good tracks on here when judicious editing is applied, and it’s fun rearranging Cream Of The Crap! Into a more cohesive whole.

We’re going to leave this in the general rotation playlist for a while and hopefully we’ll come back to it later with a fresh perspective but for now, unless you’re an established Hellacopters fan hungry for new-ish material, give it a miss.

Keith Burke Has A Day To Celebrate

Melodic songwriter Keith Burke has returned with his finest album yet - an insightful collection of songs about the unconventional beauty of adult lives, and rich love stories found in the ordinary. The Skerries native has released three original albums to date, done multiple artistic collaborations with acts like John Earle (Thin Lizzy, Ian Dury) and Liam O’Maonlaí (Hothouse Flowers), and played countless performances taking him to audiences from Pittsburgh to Beirut, Milan to Cairo. A regular on national radio, he often performs with his creative collective, The Little Black Book. Back focusing on his own writing, he has folded a lifetime of experience into A Day To Celebrate; a must listen for every fan of the Great Irish Songbook. Recorded and mixed by Anthony Gibney in Audioland studios, Leixlip. Vinyl lacquers cut in Abbey Road Aug 2025.

A Day To Celebrate is out now