Sterker Nog... - Over de Grenzen

OK, I admit it: This is not really the kind of band you would expect on a hardcore / punk page. But since I think hardcore is all about being openminded (and this is my page and I can do anything I f#$%ing like) I will review the band Sterker Nog...
The last couple of years bands singing in their native Dutch language have become immensly popular. People like Marco Borsato and Doe Maar sell out big stadiums numerous times in a row. And it seems there always are a couple of dutch songs on the top of the charts.
The Schiedam based Sterker Nog... has caught up on that and these guys have released a demo-cd containing 10 pop / rocksongs.
Their musical background is really versatile (their drummer played in some evil metalband for instance...)
And that's something you can hear back in their which encompasses soft straightfoward poprock as well as a little harder rock with distorted guitars. However, without ever going crazy anywhere, and that's what bothers me a little about this CD. It's so nice! The songs are maybe a little predictable where they, if they had been a little bit more adventurous, could have taken dutch rock a step further.
On the bonustrack the hardcoreband Cry Out despair, which recently split up, makes a guest appearance. That's nice, but I gotta say that this "new" version of the song "Ik Was Eerder" is a little misplaced and unnecessary after the previous songs.
To round things up: this is a really nice CD, especially since it's "only" their first (demo) cd. But I think these guys can do a lot more. They all know how to play their instruments and have the experience so now go make that groundbreaking nederrock classic, dammit!!!

Check out their homepage or contact them!