Datarock

Norwegian electronic-dance outfit Datarock first drew notice for their high-energy live shows, catchy hooks, and signature look of identical tracksuits. Throughout the second half of the 2000s their tracks appeared frequently in major commercials for Apple and Coca-Cola as well as numerous video games. On the 2009 album Red and the expansive 2015 release The Musical the group’s unpredictable dance-punk style came across as meticulously produced, frequently playful, and relentlessly lively. Into the 2020s the band kept issuing consistently compelling material, issuing its fifth full-length, Media Consumption Pyramid, in 2023.

Emerging from the same Bergen milieu that spawned Röyksopp and Kings of Convenience, Datarock coalesced in 2000 around Fredrik Saroea, who handled vocals, guitars, drums, and keyboards, and Ketil Mosnes, responsible for bass, programming, keyboards, and backing vocals. Drawing cues from Devo, Talking Heads, and Happy Mondays, the early lineup also featured Tom Mæland on keyboards and Kevin O’Brien on vocals; together they put out several modest recordings, among them the 2002 limited-edition EP Demo/Greatest Hits for Kaptein Kaliber Records. Operating strictly as a duo, Saroea and Mosnes launched their own imprint, Young Aspiring Professionals, and delivered the debut album Datarock Datarock in 2005. The Revenge of the Nerds-inspired single “Computer Camp Love” became a radio success in Australia, prompting reissues of the album in the U.K., France, and Australia the following year.

The buoyant indie-dance grooves on that debut naturally lent themselves to high-profile licensing, so “Fa-Fa-Fa” soon soundtracked global campaigns for Coca-Cola and Apple’s iPod. In early 2007 the band signed with Nettwerk, which put out the 2009 follow-up Red. A joint venture between Nettwerk One and EA placed Datarock tracks in major titles including Fifa Street, Madden NFL, Need for Speed, and Sims 2 and 3. Although much of their attention stayed on the American market, the group maintained an intensive touring schedule that took them to festivals worldwide.

When Mosnes exited in 2010, Thomas Larssen took over bass while saxophonist Kjetil Møster and drummer Adrian Meehan completed the lineup. The new configuration released the 2011 EPs See What I Care and California, then staged an ambitious theatrical production whose score became the 2015 soundtrack album The Musical on Young Aspiring Professionals. Mosnes later rejoined, forming a quartet with Saroea, keyboardist Stig Narve Brunstad, and drummer Øyvind Solheim; the band also swapped its red tracksuits for black ones. After the maximalist approach of The Musical, the lighter 2018 album Face the Brutality marked a return to earlier form, its ’80s-flavored synth-pop brimming with upbeat tone and subject matter. A year later came the EP A Fool at Forty Is a Fool Indeed, which contained four original tracks plus several remixes.

In subsequent years the band concentrated on standalone singles such as 2020’s “Tick Tock” and 2021’s “Video Store.” For 2023, Saroea and Mosnes assembled seven members spanning multiple eras of the collective for a run of festival dates. This expanded, multi-generational lineup entered the studio to cut the fifth album, Media Consumption Pyramid.