01. Apocalyptic Youth
02. Deliberately Wasted
03. Downtown
04. The Juggler
05. Rich Girl
06. Love and Desperation
07. Secret Agents of Lust
08. Beast of Summer
09. Last of the Rockstars
10. A Lifetime On the Run

Anders Ljung - Vocals
Erik Stenemo - Guitars
Josephine Forsman - Drums
Mats Rubarth - Bass
Ryan Roxie – Guitars

Hailing from Sweden (though the band does feature American guitarist Ryan Roxie of Alice Cooper/Electric Angels fame) and with knob-maestro Chris Laney at the production helm, it would have been enticingly easy for Casablanca to simply take the “monkey see, monkey do” route and copy the Swedish sleaze/glam sound being exported from that country on a regular basis. Instead, they have crafted their own sound that is pure melodic, ‘80s-influenced hard rock but without strict adherence to preconceived formulas.

Before anyone gets the wrong impression, while Casablanca might go slightly against the grain, they do so without ruffling the feathers of melodic rock fans. This is not an avant-garde album or eclectic exercise in experimentation; this is a melodic hard rock release with all the requisite bells and whistles, but with a unique edge that Casablanca can rightfully call their own. Their influences may be obvious, but they stamp them with their own identity rather than settle for slavish mimicry.

Apocalyptic Youth is a fun, energetic, lighthearted album. Not lighthearted in a poppy way—this isn’t Miley Cyrus—but in its overall vibe and approach. Summertime rock, if you will. Despite an album title that sounds better suited to a Norwegian black metal band, there is nothing dark or dangerous about this release. The sonic characteristics are wide open, the guitars and drums given ample room to breathe and allow the melodies to dominate rather than focus on overt aggression. Casablanca want to rock you, but they don’t feel the need to rock your face off.

In keeping with the band’s mature sound, the guitar tone is warm and smooth, with rich, earthy textures. Ryan Roxie is not what you would call a shredder, but he has talent to spare, even if that talent does not manifest itself in flash and sizzle. The drummer is female, a rarity in the rock realm, and Josephine Forsman’s authoritative skin-pounding perfectly complements Roxie’s six-string skills and emphatically proves that a drum kit is not exclusively masculine domain.

The downside to all this uniqueness and maturity is that some of the songs come off as a little subdued, with choruses that sound restrained. And while restraint is not necessarily a bad word, it is likely that some melodic rock fans will wish the energy had been kicked up a notch or two. That said, the album does offer several high octane tracks as well, with “Deliberately Wasted” being the highlight. The song opens with a superlative hook and then the chorus takes that hook and makes it explode, powered by gang backing vocals into a powerhouse anthem. Elsewhere, “Love and Desperation” comfortably rides along on some catchy, pulsing rhythms, “Beast of Summer” channels the breezy mid-tempo excellence of prime Bon Jovi, and “Secret Agents of Lust” reeks so much of the ‘80s that you’ll be digging your parachute pants and pastel shirts out of the closet while cranking up the Miami Vice soundtrack on cassette.

This album may not be a classic, but it’s still pretty good and well-rounded enough to offer both the sing-along melodic hard rock anthems many fans demand as well as something a little more downplayed for those who find that big, loud, over-the-top style a bit wearisome. Probably not going to rate as one of those beloved albums you would grab if a zombie apocalypse broke out tomorrow and you could only take a dozen CD’s with you to an island sanctuary, but until such a holocaust happens, most melodic rock fans should be happy to have this in their collection. --- Mark Allen, hardrockhaven.net

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1 	The Giant Dreamless Sleep 	4:01
2 	Hail The Liberation 	3:42
3 	Dead End Street Revisited 	3:21
4 	It's Alright 	4:10
5 	Barriers 	4:06
6 	Riding A Black Swan 	3:29
7 	Some Misty Morning 	3:25
8 	Heartbreak City 	2:29
9 	No Devil In Me 	3:37
10 	Just For The Nite 	4:16

Bass – Mats Rubarth
Drums – Josephine Forsman
Guitar – Erik Stenemo, Ryan Roxie
Vocals – Anders Ljung

A new type or Rock is here to stay, or is it new after all? Spawning in Sweden, Stockholm area, one of the reinvented Glam Rock / Metal’s strongholds of late, this cranky Rock fever is no less tasty than any of the Glam ventures going on. Walking the plank, quite a thin floorboard actually, there is an impressive journey through the outskirts of Glam Metal in a bowl of classic youthful street Rock driven by late 70s and early 80s attributes. Modern or vintage, this is a piece of honesty and a cause for admiration. There you have it, the regarded supergroup, CASABLANCA, featuring one of ALICE COOPER’s stained guitar flames, Ryan Roxie. Following their successful debut, “Apocalyptic Youth”, the rockin’ endeavor continues on a fiercer note with sharper fangs on the wings of a blackened swan with the sophomore “Riding A Black Swan”, via Gain Entertainment / Sony Music. Rock is on a roll, and there is no place to hide, darkness has arrived, and it is ready to engulf you with its favored color.

I have been banging my head in order to find some comparisons for you guys in order to let you capture a least a bit of the essence of CASABLANCA but I only came up with fragments. Along with features of KISS, ALICE COOPER, MOTLEY CRUE, H.E.A.T., HANOI ROCKS and THE POODLES, there is the crunchiness of the Hard Rock buzz of vintage times pervaded with elements of nowadays Indie Rock, yeah the stuff you see on MTV (Can’t blame them as this is also called music). Gladly, CASABLANCA seemed to be generally enthused by the classics rather than newer perspectives, it is quite apparent by their chosen crispy sound, which was well engineered and mixed, and of course their material seems to be playing the older game. The songwriting appears rather simple, courses oriented songs, catchy and easy, modest rhythm section that showcases a tight backbone, riffs take it down to the Blues at times, but mostly freewheeling frenzy of tasty straight up Rock in a top notch form, grazing at will with a few melodic leaks and swaggering soloing. It might appear to be just like any Rock album, yet I beg to differ. “Riding A Black Swan” also gives the impression that is placing its fate on the raspy soaring vocals of Anders Ljung, sounding like a true veteran Glam frontman with just enough boyish and sexiness in his tones of voice with a slight Joe Elliot flavor. If it did, it was the right call, as without Ljung’s inspiring performance, it would have a little bleak and less spirited.

With a free spirited youthful madness, the modern day blackened flower kids, CASABLANCA slaps with “Hail The Liberation” and “Dead End Street Revisited”, classy ripping rockers, filled with spunk, true grit and blazes of the past, surging with nifty riffing and world class choruses staining with a dappled atmosphere. “Barriers” and “Just For The Nite” are probably two of the coolest Hard Rock extensions of this number, persevering rockin’ tunes harbouring some nice melodies and ample harmonies while “No Devil In Me” takes on the late 70s by storm with a hymn Rock attack sharing a crispy taste, conjuring both modern and past forms. As you can probably notice, there isn’t that much to comment about the actual tracks as largely they reveal the same qualities and ingredients for the forging of catchy Rock. In overall, “Riding A Black Swan” hit the right spots as a Rock classic to be should, slick performance of an incredible group blending both vintage and new musical Rock directions closer to perfection. No doubt that “Riding A Black Swan” will immerse the listener with the hunger to return to it again and again. ---Lior "Steinmetal" Stein, metal-temple.com

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