Sandmen

  • Sandmen
  • The Sandmen (Danish Garden) 1987 
  • Western Blood (Danish Garden)) 1988  (A&M) 1989 

Copenhagen’s Sandmen have an indistinct sound but manage to be pretty charming anyway. The songs on Western Blood (four new tracks were recorded for the American version, omitting five from the original Danish edition) are glossy, commercial guitar-pop, something between a less rootsy Rolling Stones and a synth-free INXS; singer Allan Vegenfeldt has a casual, friendly drawl (in scarcely accented English) that overcomes the frequently clichéd lyrics. Standouts such as “Say Yes” and “House in the Country” wring acoustic and electric guitars and a tight rhythm section into winsome pop hooks; “Heart of Steel” is an expertly accomplished blues number, sleeker but no more resistible than the Stones’ “Going Home.”

[Karen Schlosberg]