Honningbarna aren’t a household name outside Norway, but Soft Spot makes a damn convincing case that they should be. Hailing from Kristiansand, Honningbarna have spent over a decade as a feral and fiery presence in Norwegian punk, singing entirely in a native dialect that’s obscure even within Norway. Most listeners won’t understand a single word, but Soft Spot is an exhilarating fusion of punk, rave, and noise rock that howls and dances at the same time, and it’s absolutely glorious. This is a record that combines breakneck punk fury with euphoric rave energy, melting rage and joy into each other until you can’t tell which is which, and there’s something feral and liberating about listening to an album this intense and having no idea what the frontman is yelling about.

The second track Schäfer bursts into life after a surreal opening monologue, erupting into cowbells playing with reckless glee and a scratchy-plectrum bassline. The vocals are pitched and melodic, even when screamed, giving each line a kind of desperate urgency. Festen Som Aldri Stopper is an absolutely perfect shout-along punk anthem despite not having a single word you’ll recognise. What makes this album such a joy is that it’s totally unpredictable. Just when you think you’ve clocked what kind of album this is, Soft Spot pulls a hard left, and God Gutt ends in breakbeats and donk synths. Amor Fati is built around an obliterated noise-rock riff, while Heute Ist Mein Tag layers that same fury with euphoric electronics. These gestures towards dance music are serious, weighty, well-produced sonic nods to electroclash, hard techno, and warehouse parties and when it drops, it drops. There are tracks here where the guitar and drums are in entirely different time signatures, skidding across each other like two animals locked in combat, and the band’s interplay is so precise, that it feels like the whole thing might fall apart, but never does.

This is music that feels wild and chaotic without ever being sloppy. Grooving noise you can dance to. Punk that makes you grin.

Av Liv Treffer and Schäfer both play with polyrhythm, the guitar and drums running parallel but not aligned, racing toward a different finish line, before crashing back together. There’s a sense of rhythm here that feels far more advanced than most punk outfits would dare attempt. The vocals are screamed with pitch and precision, and even though you can’t understand what’s being said, the energy of the delivery, the gang vocals, and the sheer physicality of the performance mean the emotion is never in doubt. Hvilke Splinter may as well be a black metal track, with relentless blast beats, and vocals that border on extreme metal. On paper, this is a punk album, but in practice it pulls from noise rock, rave, hardcore, post-punk and more. The range is staggering, and yet the whole record still feels like one coherent, tightly-wired outburst.

When Soft Spot ends, it leaves you wide-eyed and grinning, like stepping off a roller coaster. That it’s sung in a language most listeners won’t understand barely matters; the intensity, personality, and genre-defying power of this record speak louder than any translation ever could. This is some of the most tremendous punk ever recorded in any language.