On their 4th full-length, “Heat Wave,” Thundermother deliver badass Traditional Metal in the style of Cinderella, Motörhead, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Krokus, Sammy Hagar, Dokken, Tesla, Y&T, Lita Ford, etc. This stuff is created to facilitate your night out with the girls, ordering pitchers and shots, telling your craziest stories from 20 years ago, and shouting “wooo!” all together with your hands in the air. Thundermother are the Swedish equivalent of the “Silly boys, trucks are for girls” bumper stickers in the U.S. And look: I’m saying this from a

This shouldn’t work, but it does. Sure, there are numerous cringe spots on “Heat Wave” (“Dinosaurs you cant avoid / Will hit you hard like an asteroid”), but there are also plenty of strong Hair Metal/Blues Metal riffs and catchy choruses. The best moments hit hard, with pounding Malcolm Young-esque chords. The worst moments are reminiscent of FM Country music.
Now look, goddammit. . . I'm not surprised by this one because they’re an all-female band. I’m surprised because this kind of sound is damn hard to do right in 2020. Roughly 99% of male-centric bands who try to achieve this are abject failures. The lyrics and attitude to this music come from a very female place, but they’ll knock you on your ass all the same, a la Joan Jett.
Thundermother’s first two objectives are to be badass and fun; mission accomplished on both. I kinda want to hate the title track, with its silly lyrics and catchy cliched chorus, but I catch myself nodding along while it plays.
Other highlight tracks are “Dog From Hell,” “Loud and Alive,” “Ghosts,” and “Free Ourselves” - - the latter in large part because of its Angus-inspired riff, in spite of its hokey lyrics.