THE rock revival rolls on. Span hail from Norway and take all of five seconds to put most of the bandwagon-jumping retro rock bands of the moment to shame.

Raw and raucous, boasting grinding riffs and a mighty rhythm section that's tighter than The Darkness's spandex trousers, they draw equally on the funk-rock sound of bands such as Jane's Addiction and Rage Against The Machine and the big-haired daftness of Seventies and Eighties' stadium metal.

That singer Jarle "Jumping Jack" Bernhoft can actually get away with sounding like a strutting egomaniac hybrid of Aerosmith's Steve Tyler and Van Halen's David Lee Roth in 2004 is a feat in itself.

Songs such as Papa, On My Way Down and Buckle Under Pressure are full of slick rock hooks, and Span sound like they're spectacular live. If the British public hasn't had enough of tongue-in-cheek "rawk" by now, these Viking invaders could repeat the success of fellow Scandinavian rock'n'rollers The Hives.

Updated: 08:56 Thursday, March 04, 2004