Artist: Brick
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NEI is an all-star band of sorts and their mission is spelled out for you right in their myspace headline. Yes, they are indeed "redefining the old mans rock" and that suits me just fine. These despairing times call for harsh negative music and that's what they deliver, just like they were doing 10-15 years ago. NEI features members from two of my all-time favorite bands, Breach and Brick, though they sound much more like the latter than the former, no doubt due to Patrik Instedt's unmistakable vocals. Brick, for those who have missed my posts about them in the past or are otherwise unaware, were Norrland's answer to The Jesus Lizard. They never tried to match guitarist Duane Dennison's virtuosic chops, but more than made up for it with increased heaviness and a healthy touch of northern darkness. As for Breach, well let me just say that their final album "Kollapse" is easily one of the finest albums to ever come out of Sweden. They are the touchstone for all other bands that arrived in their wake to be forever compared to. Being a bit older now, NEI is leaner and more calculating, more focused. They never become self-indulgent and not a single note is wasted. Now the stupefying part: how can a band this good, with such an insane pedigree, remain unsigned? It makes no sense. I'd be honored to put it out myself, but I'm still paying off debts for my previous releases. Ridiculous!
NEI - City of gold
My playlist for this week's radio show on Sirius:
01. Bogus Blimp - By five o'clock tea
02. TALK 1
03. Sivert Høyem - Smalltown supersound
04. Pluxus - Kinoton
05. Brick - No names
06. TALK 2
07. Hebosagil - Let us go
08. Dialog Cet - Crocodile hunt
09. Hurdy Gurdy - Ynglingen
10. Anja Garbarek - The last trick
11. TALK 3
12. E.S.T. - When god created the coffee break
13. Miss Li - I'm sorry, he's mine
14. Afenginn - Ralli i d-mol
15. Magyar Posse - Whirlpool of terror and tension
16. TALK 4
17. Susanne Sundfør - I resign
18. Sällskapet - Nordlicht
19. Nisse Hellberg - Kärlekens express
20. TALK 5
21. The Spacious Mind - Rider of the woodlands
22. TALK 6
23. Him Kerosene - Ladybugs
24. Svenson - Don't get lost
25. Namur - Marching
26. TALK 7
27. Tellevika + Firefox AK - Eric
28. Carpet People - A girl without a skin
29. Anna Ternheim - Lovers dream (feat. Fyfe Dangerfield)
30. Knife and Ape - No arms no legs
31. TALK 8
32. Brighter Death Now - American tale
Yet another 'missing link' in the same vein as Neveres (see this post): http://www.myspace.com/neitheband
Per and Anders from Breach plus Patrik from Brick and Lars from The End Will Be Kicks. Picks up fairly close to where Brick left off I think. Look for their album "New agenda" to possibly be released this fall.
1997's "Moby Dick" is considered by many to be The Bear Quartet's finest moment. It was certainly their most commercially successful, not to mention the most straightforward and rock'n'roll. As if it wasn't obvious from the Led Zeppelin homage of the title! It's not my own personal favorite, but it certainly ranks near the top. I like loud guitars, what can I say? Just listen to that opening drumfill! "Moby Dick" was Jejo Perkovic's debut with the band and he wastes no time proving his place. As evidenced with yesterday's Brick post, it's obvious that the man knows what he's doing.
I'm short on time and energy this week, so I'll have to let the music speak for itself beyond what I've just said. I really need more people to contribute to these weekly Bear Quartet tribute posts, so please please please email me if you're interested!
The Bear Quartet - Before the trenches
I've done a Friday post on Brick before, but it's been about two years, so I think they're due for revisiting. They also work well as a precursor to our weekly Bear Quartet post as drummer Jejo Perkovic played with Brick before he joined BQ. Some folks might recognize frontman Patrik Instedt's maniacal vocals from the final Breach album "Kollapse", one of my all-time favorites. Patrik was also the man behind the camera for Logh's "A sunset panorama" DVD. However, before all that, he led Brick - Sweden's leading Jesus Lizard imitators. It pains me to say it as I love both bands, but the influence is obvious. Things is, many have attempted the same and failed, but Brick somehow pulls it off. The jagged rhythms, the jabbering, unintelligible vocals, even the slide guitar riff on the track I've posted today - all totally derivative, but done incredibly well. Too close for comfort for you? Just remember that a 1st rate Jesus Lizard clone is still about 1000x better than most of what Touch & Go puts out today.
Brick - Hole digger
Today's oldie classic comes from Him Kerosene, one of my all-time favorites. Seriously, this is the kind of stuff I live for: huge walls of discordant guitars, dissonant melodies and a heavy rhythm section. What more do you need? This is the post-hardcore/indierock sound that got me hooked on the Norrland scene. From early Fireside, Starmarket and Brick to other bands like KVLR, Breach, Convoj and Seven Feet Four (not from the North, I know), Him Kerosene helped define and establish what I consider to be my favorite sound. And let's not forget HK frontman Niklas Quintana's newest band The End Will Be Kicks, also featuring ex-HK drummer Tomas Turunen. Today's selection comes from the sadly out-of-print magnum opus "Start.Stop", first released back in 1997 on Telegram/Warner, but it must be said that all of their releases are brilliant and worth tracking down even if they aren't quite so readily available. It's worth it, trust me. You want to start a band that I'm enthusiastically endorse, here's your blueprint.
Not just one, but two new top 10 lists today! As always, be sure to check them out and keep on coming back for new ones.
New mp3 today from Brick, a band I really know nothing about except that they are awesome. This track comes from the band's 1996 debut album "Suomi" on Dolores Recordings and the sound is a perfect mix of huge discordant riffs and pounding rhythms. It captures everything I love about the mid-to-late 90s Swedish pop/hardcore crossover scene, epitomized by bands such as Him Kerosene, Starmarket and KVLR and carried on by more recent acts such as The End Will Be Kicks and Seven Feet Four. The melodies are strong, but there's still enough dissonance and heaviness to make it interesting. Who knows what these dudes are up to now? The world needs more bands like this.