AARON SUTCLIFFE LAST TRAIN TO SALINAS ALBUM SSC, PLAYGROUND RELEASE: APRIL 15, 2002 REVIEW: APRIL 11, 2002

For those among you who are wondering where Aaron Sutcliffe got his name from, I will set the record straight. Aaron, quite naturally, originates in the King's middle name, while Sutcliffe was the family name of the so callled "fifth Beatle", who worked close to the Beatles back in the day. Quite influential names, in other words.
That's a lot of pressure on Johan Malmgren's brittle shoulders. Aided musically by Eskil Simonsson of Covenant, Johan, a k a Aaron, has put together eleven Elvis Presley covers on "Last Train to Salinas". Understandably, none of the tracks from his "Elvis EP" released a while back are included on the album. There are a couple of songs to choose from, to say the least. I should point out that I find it hard to award cover releases with high grades, since the original ideas are borrowed from other composers.
"Last Train to Salinas" is a little like riding a rollercoaster with a headache. The best songs on the album make you forget the pounding inside your skull and fully enjoy the full speed of the downhill parts. At the same time, the transport stretches and slow uphill sections only cause additional nausea to your agonizing headache. "Fever" and "Can't Help Falling in Love", to name two, are quite poorly covered, while "Kentucky Rain", "She's Not You" and "Viva Las Vegas" are quite enjoyably reworked into minimalistic club numbers.
It is, for the most part, very amusing to hear Aaron Sutcliffe and more of this would induce more well needed self distance in the electronic music business. Elvis Presley was rock'n'roll and so is Aaron Sutcliffe, just with different instrumentation.

NIKLAS FORSBERG