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chocolate overdose

Was formed in 1991 in Bergen, Norway by singer/songwriter/producer Geir
Luedy.
They spent half a year using spare time and nights locked away in the studio
where Geir did most of his work as a producer. The very same demos that
materialized from the sessions were released by Warner Brothers in 1992 as
their debut "Everybody Likes Chocolate". This did so well that the record
company decided to send them to PUK Studios in Denmark, one of the best
recording studios in Europe.
The result was the quite overproduced "Sugar Baby" released in 1993.
They were loved by an always critical rock press and expectations were sky
high.
However, the combination of quite an original band, a major label, an
expensive producer, media hype and lack of immediate results once again
proved to be a dismal one. They needed a (long) break and new energy.
5 years was spent playing with others, producing other artists, writing and
recording new songs and getting in the brilliant new guitarist Mats Grønner
after the old one left to front Libido.
The break has worked miracles, "Whatever" is mostly recorded live in the
studio,
some songs also written in the recording process, almost underproduced and
all the better for it. The sound has a rough carelessness to it, but is full
of detail, depth and colour, and all in all it's a real grower.
This was mainly due to the members being heavily into alternative production
values and typical songwriters like Nick Cave and Bob Dylan. The first line
written for "Whatever", "I'm such a mess, can you make a guess...." and the
generally introvert and dark atmosphere reflect not only the feeling in the
band at the time, but also the fact that writer Geir Luedy had just been
through a complicated break with his girlfriend.
Their next album "Dingledoodies", the second for the new Norwegian indie
label Rune Grammofon, is a much more optimistic record and in many ways a
far more polished production.
Here we get 11 brand new songs, written only during a few months in 1998.
It's a more immediately melodic and catchy record; from the irrisistable pop
refrains of "Memories" and the jazzy
"Black Rainbow" to the more enigmatic growers like "Hint" and
"Satisfactory", from the hard-hitting titletrack to the lovely ballads "Lou
And Lee" and "Shining at the Sun".
We honestly can't remember the last time a Norwegian group came up with so
many great songs on one album!