Top 10s for 2005: Navy Keophan

I packed up all my stuff and moved across town into my new house last Thursday evening. That meant I had to miss Regulations, but I am very happy to be in my new place. Got my Internet access up and running Friday and spent the weekend unpacking. Good times, right? I've been going pretty much non-stop the entire time and I'm a bit frazzled, so I'm going to let Simon Tagestam handle today's mp3 post:

Being Swedish, it's hard to try and get people to listen to stuff that's sung in Swedish, since I realise that a lot of the appeal for me is usually about understanding what's sung. But now with Avi posting a track with the real king of Sweden (and with the success of the awful Dungen and the boring Sigur Rós) I feel confident enough to share this song with you. It's a track that I've been listening to over and over again everyday, everywhere for the last couple of weeks (I can prove it!). The song has the same impact on me as when I heard aforementioned Håkan Hellström for the first time, that is – it makes me want to go get drunk and go out and smash things up (figuratively speaking, of course), and perhaps dance a little bit. The song got such a dazzling energy that it almost makes me exhausted listening to it. Bom Bom, who made this masterpiece, are currently based in Gothenburg and London, and at the moment there's nothing I want to do more than to catch these boys in concert. Their other songs that I've heard all sound groovy, but "Pop i kras" is the catchiest one of them, and being a sucker for catchy songs, it's the one I like the most. You can download a bunch of their songs on their website (beware, it's all in Swedish, but it's still pretty easy to find the mp3s). Be braver than I am, and listen to some great music sung in a language you don't understand!

MP3: Bom Bom - Pop i kras

I packed up all my stuff and moved across town into my new house last Thursday evening. That meant I had to miss Regulations, but I am very happy to be in my new place. Got my Internet access up and running Friday and spent the weekend unpacking. Good times, right? I've been going pretty much non-stop the entire time and I'm a bit frazzled, so I'm going to let Simon Tagestam handle today's mp3 post:

Being Swedish, it's hard to try and get people to listen to stuff that's sung in Swedish, since I realise that a lot of the appeal for me is usually about understanding what's sung. But now with Avi posting a track with the real king of Sweden (and with the success of the awful Dungen and the boring Sigur Rós) I feel confident enough to share this song with you. It's a track that I've been listening to over and over again everyday, everywhere for the last couple of weeks (I can prove it!). The song has the same impact on me as when I heard aforementioned Håkan Hellström for the first time, that is – it makes me want to go get drunk and go out and smash things up (figuratively speaking, of course), and perhaps dance a little bit. The song got such a dazzling energy that it almost makes me exhausted listening to it. Bom Bom, who made this masterpiece, are currently based in Gothenburg and London, and at the moment there's nothing I want to do more than to catch these boys in concert. Their other songs that I've heard all sound groovy, but "Pop i kras" is the catchiest one of them, and being a sucker for catchy songs, it's the one I like the most. You can download a bunch of their songs on their website (beware, it's all in Swedish, but it's still pretty easy to find the mp3s). Be braver than I am, and listen to some great music sung in a language you don't understand!

Bom Bom - Pop i kras

Download some live tracks of Regulations playing live on Radio K in Minneapolis: http://www.havocrex.com/mp3/regulationsradio/regulationsradio.html
Don't forget that the band is on tour in the US right now - I'll be at the Seattle show f'sure.

Regulations
s/t
Ny Våg

Umeå's Regulations, along with labelmates the Vicious (with whom they share members), debut album reminds me of the sounds of early L.A. punk. Think early Black Flag, Circle Jerks and the Adolescents and that's what you'll get. Songs like "Police siren" and "We always know what to do" carry the energy and fury of those early bands before hair bands took over the scene. The lead singer's voice reminds me of a young Henry Rollins or even Milo from the Descendents. Highly recommended.
- Navy Keophan

Aversionline has posted reviews of Swedish punks Regulations and Martyrdöd.

Havoc Records will be releasing a new 12" from Regulations in time for their upcoming US tour. The a-side will feature seven brand-new tracks and the flip with have all of the stuff from their two 7"s "Destroy" and "Survive in the city". As mentioned before, go here for the latest tour dates.

New track today from Regulations, whose self-titled debut album was recently released on Dennis Lyxzén's (The (Int'l) Noise Conspiracy, Refused) new label Ny Våg. Along with Knugen Faller, these dudes are putting Umeå on the map as the place to go for quality punk-rock. And we're talking classic 80s So-Cal style punk, not the kind of stuff that passes for punk on the radio or MTV. This is way more gruff and raw than any of that bullshit. Which is not to say that it's totally lacking in pop flavor. There's still tons of hooks and worthy sing-alongs. I listen to this stuff and I feel like I did when I was twelve years old and just discovering punk for the first time. It's not that they're tackling big issues with the lyrics or anything (they most definitely aren't), but they've got the spirit and that's enough to move me. I often get sour about how bad the scene has become, but then I hear stuff like this and I realize once again that it's not so bad. Can't wait to see 'em when they tour the US this fall. Go here for the latest dates.

MP3: Regulations - Fashion girl

New track today from Regulations, whose self-titled debut album was recently released on Dennis Lyxzén's (The (Int'l) Noise Conspiracy, Refused) new label Ny Våg. Along with Knugen Faller, these dudes are putting Umeå on the map as the place to go for quality punk-rock. And we're talking classic 80s So-Cal style punk, not the kind of stuff that passes for punk on the radio or MTV. This is way more gruff and raw than any of that bullshit. Which is not to say that it's totally lacking in pop flavor. There's still tons of hooks and worthy sing-alongs. I listen to this stuff and I feel like I did when I was twelve years old and just discovering punk for the first time. It's not that they're tackling big issues with the lyrics or anything (they most definitely aren't), but they've got the spirit and that's enough to move me. I often get sour about how bad the scene has become, but then I hear stuff like this and I realize once again that it's not so bad. Can't wait to see 'em when they tour the US this fall. Go here for the latest dates.

Regulations - Fashion girl

Podcast: The sound of Umeå, part 2

Preliminary tourdates for Swedish punks Regulations:

10/13 - Chicago, IL
10/14 - Milwaukeefest
10/15 - Detroit/Ann Arbor, MI
10/16 - Cleveland, OH
10/17 - Pittsburgh, PA
10/18 - Rochester, NY
10/19 - Albany, NY
10/20 - Providence, RI
10/21 - Boston, MA
10/22 - NYC
10/23 - Philadelphia, PA
10/24 - New Jersey
10/25 - DC
10/26 - Richmond, VA
10/27 - Georgia
10/28 - Daytona Beach, FL
10/29 - Sound Idea, Brandon, FL
10/30 - New Orleans, LA
10/31 - Houston, TX
11/01 - Austin, TX
12/02 - Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
11/03 - Oklahoma City, OK
11/03 - Lawrence, KS
11/04 - Midwest Hardcore Fest III, Minneapolis
11/07 - North Dakota
11/09 - Bellingham, WA
11/10 - Seattle, WA
11/11 - Reed College Festival, Portland, OR
11/12 - Gilman St., Berkeley, CA
11/13 - Burnt Ramen, Richmond, CA
11/14 - Fresno, CA
11/15 - Che Café, San Diego, CA
11/16 - LA, CA
11/17 - Long Beach, CA
11/18 - Las Vegas, NV
11/19 - Denver, CO
11/20 - St. Louis, MO

Wasted Sounds is releasing the debut 7" from The Vicious, the new band from Sara of t(I)NC/Doughnuts along with members from Tristess, Regulations, DS13, Cult of Luna and Dead Ones. The band is set to release their debut full-length through Burning Heart later this year, but here's where you can hear 'em first. Check out a sample track: http://www.wastedsounds.com/mp3/Vicious_-_Suspicions.mp3
For ordering info and more new Norrland punk releases such as Auktion, Reign of Bombs and Disconvenience, go here: http://www.wastedsounds.com/

Check out the video for "Golden time" from The Lost Patrol Band: http://www.burningheart.com/_lib/util/streamvideo.php?id=2500&s=hi
In case you were unaware, The Lost Patrol Band started out as the powerpop solo project of Dennis Lyxzén (t(I)NC, ex-Refused), but is now a full band with a solid lineup featuring members from the Deportees, Regulations and DS-13. Read more here: http://www.burningheart.com/news/article.php?id=236

Interview: Peter Ahlqvist (Burning Heart Records)

Head over to the Havoc Records site for some new mp3s from Regulations, Martyr-Död and Riistetyt as well as updated US tour dates for the latter along with European dates for Victims and Vitamin X: http://www.havocrex.com/