Swedish high-energy rock ‘n’ roll royalty THE HELLACOPTERS have released the second single from their upcoming studio album “Overdriver”, which will see the light of day on January 31, 2025, via Nuclear Blast Records. “(I Don’t Wanna Be) Just A Memory” sees the band take on the (post)modern preoccupation with nostalgia.
Forgoing influences like the MC5 and KISS, “(I Don’t Wanna Be) Just A Memory” nods more to powerpop pioneers THE WHO, THE RASPBERRIES and even BADFINGER with its major/minor shifts, offering up hidden harmonic treasures while still beating to the ‘COPTERS‘ signature driving pulse.
Like past favorites “No Song Unheard” and “Carry Me Home”, “(I Don’t Wanna Be) Just A Memory” reminds us of the band’s unique capacity to temper their furious-paced action rock with a songwriting sensibility that transcends their genre.
Of course, there’s also an audio-visual treat in the form of a brand new music video for the track by director Emil Klinta, which includes behind-the-scenes footage from the recording sessions. You can watch it below.
Less than three years after their triumphant, chart-storming comeback record “Eyes Of Oblivion”, which entered at No. 1 in their home country and at No. 3 in Germany, Sweden’s most consistently great rock outfit is back with another banger of an album. “Overdriver” was recorded at Strawberry Studio and The Honk Palace and is the first HELLACOPTERS album entirely produced by Nicke Andersson. As you might expect from a HELLACOPTERS album, it’s filled to the brim with roaring guitars and earth-shattering grooves, fist-raising energy and anthemic choruses, while keeping the variety richer than ever before. The striking cover for “Overdriver” was created by German illustrator Max Löffler.
“Overdriver” track listing:
01. Token Apologies
02. Don’t Let Me Bring You Down
03. (I Don’t Wanna Be) Just A Memory
04. Wrong Face On
05. Soldier On
06. Doomsday Daydreams
07. Faraway Looks
08. Coming Down
09. Do You Feel Normal
10. The Stench
11. Leave A Mark
THE HELLACOPTERS released their eighth studio album, “Eyes Of Oblivion”, on April 1, 2022. It marked the first full-length since the release of their temporary farewell record “Head Off” in 2008, which Nuclear Blast Records reissued in October 2024. “Eyes Of Oblivion” was met with massive acclaim from fans and media alike. Charting at No. 1 in Sweden, No. 3 in Germany, No. 6 in Finland, the band celebrated a triumphant return culminating in a show with the mighty IRON MAIDEN in Gothenburg in July 2022, and apart from their own string of shows, gigs with GHOST in Germany in June 2023. Eager to keep the rock flowing, February 16, 2024 saw THE HELLACOPTERS release not one, but two stunning versions of their classic “Grande Rock” album, which was originally released in 1999. “Grande Rock Revisited” included a remastered original version and a remixed and partially re-recorded version showing how the album could have sounded in a parallel universe with guitarist Dregen being in the band at the time. After making rock grande again, the group set sights on new material, debuting the phenomenal single “Stay With You” in May 2024 and releasing it as a limited seven-inch single via Lightning Records.