IT'S A TRAP! Scandinavian Music Journal

Springfactory - Enough about you

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 18:11:09 -0700

New music from SKwBN sideproject Springfactory off the band's new album, due out this fall.

Suburban Kids with Biblical Names/Springfactory confirm more US dates

Fri, 08 May 2009 18:27:10 -0700

More details for the upcoming Suburban Kids with Biblical Names/Springfactory US tour are now available: http://www.labrador.se/skwbn/?p=314

Lots of Scandinavian artists at this year's SF Popfest

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:18:09 -0700

Scandinavian artists Springfactory, Northern Portrait, Champagne Riot, Pelle Carlberg and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names are all confirmed for the SF Popfest in mid-May: http://www.myspace.com/sanfranciscopopfest

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 19:53:07 -0800

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Timo Räisänen - Sixteen
02. TALK 1
03. Dreamboy - What have I done
04. Echo Is Your Love - Three ropes
05. The Raveonettes - Dead sound
06. TALK 2
07. Connny Nimmersjö - Dum i huvudet
08. Holiday Fun Club - Hamburg in the night
09. Elin Ruth Sigvardsson - Antidote
10. TALK 3
11. Christian Kjellvander - Two souls
12. Heroes & Zeros - The foolproof
13. Gåte - Sjå attende
14. TALK 4
15. Repoman - Chemically obsessed
16. The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Instant Repeater '99
17. Petter - Logiskt (ft. Säkert)
18. TALK 5
19. Dieter Schöön - Warm hearts
20. Springfactory - Stingy Friday afternoon
21. Sivert Høyem - Don't pass me by
22. TALK 6
23. Sweatmaster - Song with no words
24. Enslaved - Enemy I
25. The Concretes - Kids
26. TALK 7
27. Broder Daniel - Cruel town
28. September - Cry for you
29. Britta Persson - Cliffhanger
30. TALK 8
31. TLS - A song left for you
32. The End Will Be Kicks - Ass of a friend
33. Immanu El - Kosmonaut
34. TALK 9
35. Fare You Well - Deceiving eyes
36. Weeping Willows - So it's over
37. Firefox AK - Winter rose (ft. Tiger Lou)
38. TALK 10
39. Scraps of Tape - Death as it should be

The Drawbacks Slightly less vague Chocolate Hearts

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Lo-fi Swedish pop has a way of saturating the spaces around the listener, the warmer, 'dirtier' production unable to contain the sunny or downhearted elements of the music within the song or the stereo, almost carelessly allowing them to bleed out. The Drawbacks are no exception. Almost reveling in its softer, near-garage sound (and the 'authenticity' often afforded to albums with this feel), "Slightly less vague" pushes its creators' brand of indie-rock - "Couch buddies" having a relaxed Strokes feel to it; "Adrenaline" stumbling down more Scandinavian avenues; "Celia", my personal favorite, utilizing the vocal elements of the band to their fullest, creating coalescing strata of voices and instrumentation; "Spain" existing in that strange arena of indie-pop that bands like Springfactory exist so wonderfully within - cute and sunny without being trite or superficial, allowing compositions to be endearing and sweet without sacrificing their sophistication. "Slightly less vague" is engaging and charming, making it all too easy to overlook the few flaws present on the album. If Sambassadeur's progression from "Coastal affairs" to "Migration" is any indication of the heights open to lo-fi indie bands, the future is The Drawbacks' for the taking.

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 11:30:39 -0800

The playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Jan Johansson - Visa från Utanmyra
02. TALK 1
03. Annika Norlin/Säkert! - Generalens visa
04. Don't Be a Stranger - Mon-chi-chi
05. Audionom - In the streets
06. TALK 2
07. Elias and the Wizzkids - Fourth of July
08. C.Aarmé - Golden retriever
09. Kasper Bjørke - Humming song
10. The Carny - Bestseller
11. TALK 3
12. Marybell Katastrophy - Hip
13. Flyphonic - The truth is
14. Universal Poplab - Heart apart (Timo Räisänen acoustic remix)
15. TALK 4
16. E.S.T. - Tuesday wonderland (live)
17. Rigas - Dead like you
18. TALK 5
19. Bröderna Lindgren - En hund som jag
20. Springfactory - Swedish folk highschool
21. Loud Pipes - Don't you ever
22. Sophie Zelmani - To know you
23. TALK 6
24. The State of Floral Beings - Man you owe me
25. Caitlyn - Oh no!
26. The Bombhappies - And at Belle Bed Inn, I told you
27. TALK 7
28. Brick - Call Batman
29. Smalltown - What's going on?
30. Desert Planet - Return of the ninja droids
31. TALK 8
32. Hedningarna - Neidon laulu
33. Dreamboy - What have I done
34. Captain Murphy - Sailor behaviour
35. TALK 9
36. Lemonator - Heart burns
37. The Kissaway Trail - Smother + evil = hurt
38. Johndoe - Rastløs rock'n'roll
39. Lukestar - Shade you hide
40. TALK 10
41. The Fine Arts Showcase - Teenage poetry

MP3: Springfactory - Stingy Friday afternoon

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 11:21:09 -0800

Springfactory surprised me. I guess I expected something more twee considering the involvement of Peter Gunnarson from Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, but that's not the case at all. Instead, what I got is smart, driven indiepop with strong female vocals (courtesy of Lina Cullemark). It makes me think of 1st-album era New Pornographers with Neko Case on vocals, 'cept that's not quite fair since I don't really like the New Pornographers (Carl Newman was far, far better in Superconductor). NP are boring and safe, Springfactory are far more rough and tumble and therefor, far more charming. Those sharper edges give them personality. "Stingy Friday afternoon" starts off kinda aimless, with a vamping bassline and skronky guitar, until we enter the first chorus and relief sets in. There's unresolved tension in that verse and it's really only apparent once you make it to the chorus. The bassline straightens out to steady eighthnotes and Lina gives us a vocal hook we can hang on to. The whoosh of guitar noise reminds us this is still indie territory, but when you get down to it, this is everything pop music should be. Nicely done.

Springfactory s/t Series Two Records

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Crafting tracks that have a contemplative playfulness, Springfactory, featuring Peter Gunnarson of Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, cleverly play out the tension between bubbly, 60s-esque songwriting, and a more careful, deliberative approach. "Swedish folk highschool" revels in its simplistic attack, given weight and complexity through layered instrumentation, and the clear, almost cutting aspect of Lina Cullemark's endearing voice. The bass line for "As winter gives ways to spring", catchy as it is, betraying the group's fascination with pop melodies, already gives an implication of the intricate, shifting lines the song will follow. While these songs would have been rather good had they decided to keep a more basic mode of delivery, they are elevated outside of the realm of the verse-chorus-verse-chorus pop song formula, given a new life as a song you have to pay attention to. There aren't merely shiny portraits that can be understood on the first listen, but threaten to reveal new sides of their explorations as more attention is paid to the tracks. Happy without being saccharine, clever without being pretentious, Springfactory is a summer's breeze tempered by autumn's approach.

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0800

Swedish instrumental act Ellis the Vaacumchild are going on permanent hiatus. Their statement:

Ellis the Vacuumhild are taking an indefinite break to pursue other projects. Johan and Martin have a new band with Magnus and Micke from Piotor, and Daniel AKA Våldet. Mattias and his brother have teamed up with Pontus from The Flue to form Until Death Do Us Part (playing this Sunday at Gula Villan!) Jonas and Rickard also have a new band, with Micke and Daniel who previously played together in The Gentleman Racer. Henrik keeps on playing the bass with Springfactory, catch them at Debaser this Saturday!

Festival report: Emmaboda Festival 05

Mon, 22 Aug 2005 00:00:00 -0700

The path to get here was long and hard. I hard originally planned to come with a good friend who pulled out. However, his subsequent cancellation made me all the more determined to make it out here. The Emmaboda Festival looked appealing as 90% of the bands on the bill had never played the UK before, plus there was a cheap(ish) hotel within a 20 minute walk of the site.

The first day of the festival opened with Band Of Joy. They're one of those groups that do exactly what it says on the tin. Instrumental gypsy party in this case. All sorts of crazy dancing ensued from stylish characters. These included one guy who wore a matching outfit of an incredibly light shade of pink, and another guy who dressed up in a full suit who danced like Elvis in his prime. After that it was off to the smaller stage to see Gaddan & Braxen. The group makes what Swedes call "Nintendo music." It's fairly inoffensive and there are a lot of bands who do that kind of thing better, notably Slagsmalsklubben who played on Friday. Slagsmalsklubben are lead by a chic geek with a curly afro and huge glasses. He dances incessantly, and the crowd are only too happy to mimmick him. SMK took me back to the early 90s and reminded me of a whole lot of forgotten euro pop bands who used to grace MTV's European Top Twenty.

Another of the best bands on the Friday were Lovekevins. To my knowledge this Swedish band are still unsigned. They came across like a slightly more shambolic version of the Lucksmiths, with beautiful songwriting at the core of their sound. They were shortly followed by the all female Rough Bunnies who are a modern take on Beat Happening. Apparently, they are also unsigned. After hearing so much it was greatly to finally get a chance to see the Detroit-based Saturday Looks Good To Me, who were a bluesier take on Motown. Interestingly, the band are relatively unknown outside of Scandinavia. I was annoyed to miss Springfactory, who I later found out feature a member of Suburban Kids With Biblical Names.

The final day started with Three Is A Crowd (TIAC). I must say that this band were a bit of a disappointment. They do that indie/dance crossover thing. "We fucked up" is a gem, but the rest of the set didn't live up to this song. Still, full marks for the matching brown tracksuit tops. Mixtapes & Cellmates are like a slightly more lo-fi version of Radio Dept. The drum machine sounded great. Not sure if these guys are signed. If so, surely this can't be the case for much longer? Over on the main stage Frida Hyvönen was a little disappointing. As good as she was, her songs lacked variation. Her lyrics and style are a bit kooky. I guess she's the closest Sweden has to Kate Bush. Jens Lekman gave one of the best performances of the festival. It's quite amusing that his whole band is made up of female members. The selection of songs he played was reasonably obscure, taking in just a handful of the tracks from "When I said I wanted to be your dog", a few songs from his EPs, and a couple I hadn't heard before. It's a mystery to me why he isn't better known in the UK.

The quality of the artists booked at Emmaboda is a testament to the promoters and organisers. Shortly after arriving at the festival, it soon became obvious that most of the crowd had only heard of a handful of the artists playing. For example, take the Pipettes, the only UK artists who played. The band had never played outside of the UK previously, yet the promoters had the foresight to predict that they would go down a storm. They weren't wrong, and in fact The Pipettes gave one of the best received performances of the entire festival. Surely their twee take on Motown and polka dot dresses is now destined to take the rest of Sweden by storm.

One of the reasons I wanted to come out to Emmaboda in the first place is that Sweden is great at predicting musical trends. Whilst it is only in the last year or so that England and America has started to "get" synth pop, the genre has been huge in Sweden for a good few years, with Weeping Willows and Melody Club serving as just two examples. If pushed to predict the next musical trend to emerge from Sweden, I'd suggest indie pop. Whilst this genre is not new at all, it has been out of vogue for quite some time in the UK. However, in Sweden the success of the entire roster of Labrador Records (including the excellent South Ambulance who played on Saturday) suggests that the tide might be about to change. This is given greater weight when you consider that The Boy Least Likely To (a relatively small UK indie pop band with one self-released album to their name) have already been booked to play a handful of club dates in Sweden, whilst the Pipettes are booked to return in November. Roll on next year…
- Nick Levine

Springfactory s/t Bedroom Records

Mon, 16 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700

This is Peter Gunnarson from the magnificent Suburban Kids With Biblical Names and his (girl?)friend Lina Cullemark making some pleasant and melodic songs together. It's all nice and summery, and of course, very twee. I'm looking forward to see Springfactory perform their jolly songs live, preferably outdoors in the afternoon with the sun out, and my girl on one side and some cool raspberry beers on the other side.

Mon, 02 May 2005 00:00:00 -0700

New pics of Sibiria, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, Springfactory, The Lost Patrol Band and Millencollin now up at Rockfoto.nu.

Wed, 02 Feb 2005 00:00:00 -0800

Swedish lofi indie label Bedroom Records has announced that they will be releasing Erik Halldén's new album "When my broken heart was modern art" on his birthday, February 4 and will also be putting out a self-titled EP from Springfactory on February 11.