3WD

Like fellow countrymen the Hives and Soundtrack of Our Lives, Swedish power trio Elope love '60s garage and psychedelic rock, but 3WD, the first of two releases in 2006 — the latter accentuates their more pastoral leanings — is far too elegant to be a Hives knockoff and far too raucous to harbor comparisons to SOL. Elope do hook-laden hard rock like they were born in a pub, but they know how to twist a memorable melody into the song's core and still maintain the boot-stomping energy than birthed it. 3WD is by no means a landmark album — it doesn't take the genre to new heights like Dungen's Ta Det Lugnt — but it's solid, confident, and raunchy in all the right places. While the blistering title cut may open the garage door just wide enough to toss a cigarette butt out, McCartney-inspired pop musings like "Misbehaving in the Summernight," Replacements-esque heartland rockers like "Not Even Close," and the Secret Machines-style instrumental closer "Out from the Blue Two" show a depth of field that bodes well for future recordings.