IT'S A TRAP! Scandinavian Music Journal

I Used To Be A Sparrow album stream

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:35:39 -0700

I Used To Be A Sparrow's debut album "Luke", now streaming in full at Bandcamp. If you've enjoyed any of Dick Pettersson's other bands such as In These Woods or Voices Break the Silence, you'll dig this slightly mellower act of his too.

I Used To Be A Sparrow - Life is good (video)

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:10:49 -0800

The official debut single and video from I Used To Be A Sparrow, the new Swedish/Italian expat duo of Dick Pettersson ((In These Woods) and Andrea Caccese (Songs For The Sleepwalkers). If you have enjoyed any of Dick's other acts (ITW, Arrow Meets Francis, Voices Break the Silence), you'll definitely dig this too. Recommended!

MP3: In These Woods - Bear

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 17:59:10 -0700

Bad news/good news: Voices Break the Silence, whose long-awaited/highly anticipated debut album was finally supposed to see light of day in 2010, has gone on permanent hiatus. In their place, a new band has formed by vocalist/guitarists Dick Pettersson and Nicklas Sandström called In These Woods and they have a new 5-song EP on the way. In mere weeks too, that is, if everything goes according to plan. "Bear" is the first track and first taste of what's to come; unsurprisingly (and quite satisfyingly) not far from what came before -- pure quality Scandinavian indierock, chock full of big riffs, bigger melodies and at a mere 2.5 minutes, all killer, no filler. I suppose that means it might be time to update my 2010 watchlist.

Sirius playlist week #7

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:23:26 -0800

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

01. Champagne Riot - The champagne anthem
02. TALK 1
03. The Late Parade - We will walk straight through this wall
04. Bolywool - Save my soul
05. Darkthrone - Eyes burst at dawn
06. Boy Omega - Follow the herd
07. TALK 2
08. Isobel & November - She came down the mountain
09. Dream Evil - Kill, burn, be evil
10. TALK 3
11. Martin Senter - Ingenting förlorat
12. Pascal - Tyst här i mörkret
13. Hello Saferide - Anna
14. Brothers of End - Big bird
15. TALK 4
16. Voices Break the Silence - Lost

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

Sirius playlist week #2

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:38:45 -0800

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

01. November - En ny tid är här
02. TALK 1
03. Viola - 2010s (maybe the world won't end)
04. Love Is All - Kungen
05. Niels Nielsen - We are youth
06. NEI - 40 rabbits
07. TALK 2
08. Voices Break the Silence - Lost
09. Oriel Joans - Knuckles whiten
10. Ljudbilden & Piloten - Arms and legs together
11. David Åhlén - Great is thy faithfulness
12. TALK 3
13. Sambassadeur - Sandy dunes
14. Folkvang - Stugsista
15. Nirvana 2002 - Slumber
16. TALK 4
17. Obliteration - Exterminate
18. Java - Smokescreen
19. Thee Gutted String - White
20. TALK 5
21. Grande Roses - The farm

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

MP3: Voices Break the Silence - Lost

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:28:34 -0800

Hell yes, Voices Break the Silence are back and apparently there's even a new album on the way. This is the first taste and it's a killer slice of Swedish noiserock, albeit also revealing a slightly poppier direction for the band. Whatever, makes no difference to me -- I'm stoked on it regardless. More details forthcoming?

MP3: Convoj - Liberty City

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:13:09 -0700

Tomorrow at Debaser Malmö: It's a Trap! Clubnight featuring Convoj and Pretty Whores! I shouldn't have to remind you how great Convoj are since I've been talking them up from the very beginning, but I've got an mp3 below just in case you remain ignorant. Those guys are easily one of the best acts keeping the classic Swedish indie/noiserock/post-hardcore/post-punk sound alive. Few others compete; I can count them on one hand: NEI, The End Will Be Kicks, Giant Boar, Voices Break the Silence. Am I missing anyone? You might be able to lump Aerial in there once their new album comes out, but that's about it. Anyhow, point being: great band, not to be missed.
As for Pretty Whores, I haven't heard their new EP yet, but it seems to be getting good reviews and I most certainly approve of their shortened name (minus "Of Manhattan"). I think they'd be better off dropping it altogether and starting fresh, but whatever -- they're young dudes, they'll figure it out.

Sirius playlist week #7

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:48:59 -0800

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

01. Saralunden - Les mains d'un autre
02. TALK 1
03. Agent Side Grinder - The screams
04. Victims - Victims in blood #5
05. The Garlands - Freedom
06. Livaventura - Keep on driving
07. TALK 2
08. Anna Ternheim - Better be
09. NEI - City of gold
10. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Lost & losing
11. TALK 3
12. A Camp - Golden teeth and silver medals
13. Leif Jordansson - Mellan drömmar och bränder
14. Mechanical Bird - Harbour me
15. Samtidigt Som - Vid min sida
16. TALK 4
17. Wolfbrigade - Deny tomorrow
18. Dismember - Beyond good and evil
19. Marvins Revolt - Deliberate deeds
20. Timo Räisänen - Sweet Marie
21. TALK 5
22. Voices Break the Silence - This awful friend

Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.

MyFriends: City, Dear Derailed, Livaventura, Pure Faen, Sonic Ritual, Viisikko

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:54:51 -0800

Time to face facts: almost all music sucks. Or it's painfully mediocre at best. Lucky for you, I dig through the dregs each and every day to bring you the cream of the crap. It's an ugly job, but someone's gotta do it.

City

SOUNDS LIKE: Two dudes, one from Slagsmålsklubben and another from The High Fives, combine the best of both for pure electropop awesomeness.
HIGHLIGHTS: Fantisera
LINK: http://www.myspace.com/citysweden

Dear Derailed

SOUNDS LIKE: Upstart Swedes resurrecting the sounds of early emo/hardcore and mixing it up with late-90s Swedish indie. Maybe not as promising as the disappointingly non-prolific Voices Break the Silence, but definitely along the same lines.
HIGHLIGHTS: Feel me tremble
LINK: http://www.myspace.com/dearderailed

Livaventura

SOUNDS LIKE: Total Sonic Youth worship/indie noiserock out of Denmark. Their upcoming album "...And they slept with their eyes open" is/will be one of 2009's best new releases.
HIGHLIGHTS: Keep on driving, Connections
LINK: http://www.myspace.com/livaventura

Pure Faen

SOUNDS LIKE: Lunkheaded rock'n'roll ala The Dictators/The Ramones with the singalong choruses of the Toy Dolls. Perfect drinking music!
HIGHLIGHTS: Pure faen for faen, Hold kjeft
LINK: http://www.myspace.com/purefaen

Sonic Ritual

SOUNDS LIKE: Dirtball 70s rock played with punkrock intensity and aggression. There was a trend of this stuff 10 years ago or so, but it sounded like a put-on -- nowadays it seems far more natural for old men to play old-man rock.
HIGHLIGHTS: Take the edge off, Don't wanna feel alright
LINK: http://www.myspace.com/sonicritualofficial

Viisikko

SOUNDS LIKE: Raw hardcore sludge from the darkest recesses of Finland. If a band is worthy of doing a split with Hebosagil, you know they're good.
HIGHLIGHTS: All (both?) tracks are good
LINK: http://www.myspace.com/viisikko

Voices Break the Silence post new track

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:41:53 -0800

The excellent Swedish noiserockers Voices Break the Silence have a new track up at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/voicesbreakthesilence

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:42:16 -0700

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

01. Pascal - Längtar efter dig
02. TALK 1
03. Division of Laura Lee - Central Park
04. New Decade - While tonight still is
05. Abduktio - Uutisia rintamalta
06. TALK 2
07. Echo Is Your Love - Lion tamer vs tigers
08. Fireside - Silver muscle car
09. Him Kerosene - Ladybugs
10. TALK 3
11. NEI - New morning
12. The Bear Quartet - All your life
13. Park Hotell - Dead ringers
14. KVLR - Spit
15. Electric Retard - Skate girl
16. TALK 4
17. Samuraj Cities - Ugly kids are alright
18. Barra Head - Iron to skin
19. Death By Kite - Himmelfahrtskommando
20. TALK 5
21. Blithe - Haven
22. Starmarket - You can't come
23. Lukestar - White shade
24. Monkeystrikes - Tahonga take away
25. TALK 6
26. Voices Break the Silence - This awful friend

Reminder: My show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday at the same time.

MP3: Voices Break the Silence - This awful friend

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:46:43 -0700

I love big, 90s-style indie guitarrock and I am unashamed. I enjoy plenty of other genres as well of course, but that's the stuff I grew up so it remains my top-tier favorite. Too bad there's not too many bands out there embracing the style though, it's like all that "rockism" talk scared people off of making music with guitar, bass and drums. What's wrong with the old formula? It's not broken, it still sounds just as fresh to me as it always did. And there's still plenty of room to grow, just listen to contemporaries like Culkin (remember?) or today's featured artist Voices Break the Silence. I posted a track from these guys way back in 2006 and nothing has really changed since then - the band remains totally awesome and pitifully unsigned. It makes no sense, but so goes the fashion I suppose. This is classic indie rock, emphasis on the rock. I don't see how anyone who loves stuff like Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr. couldn't be way into this as well. It's got the monster riffs of Chavez, but it's also got the romantic melodicism of Midwest mainstays like The Promise Ring. 90s, 00s - whatever. This is not nostalgia, this sound never went away as far as I'm concerned. As I always say, good music is good music, now and forever.

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:07:55 -0700

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

01. Anna Maria Espinosa - Everyday
02. TALK 1
03. Tobias Hellkvist - Vintervarm
04. The Bear Quartet - Needs vs. facts
05. The Social Services - Baltic Sea
06. TALK 2
07. Kristofer Åström - The dark
08. Honey Is Cool - You're a horse
09. Reeperbahn - Hjälte
10. Voices Break the Silence - The way
11. TALK 3
12. Hebosagil - River
13. Pan Sonic - Lähetys
14. Silverbullit - Only gold
15. TALK 4
16. Josè González - Down the line
17. Motorpsycho - Serpentine
18. NEI - Hello
19. Claws Costeau - Finnuggla
20. TALK 5
21. Hello Saferide - I thought you said summer is going to take the pain away

Reminder: my show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday.

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:38:20 -0700

Swedish noiserockers Voices Break the Silence have a couple new tracks on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/voicesbreakthesilence
If you miss Seven Feet Four, be sure to check these guys out.

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:32:53 -0700

Swedish noiserockers Voices Break the Silence have a new track on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/voicesbreakthesilence
Been awhile since I've heard from these guys, so I'm stoked that they're still active. The song sounds great too.

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:18:39 -0800

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

01. C.Aarmé - Blodet
02. TALK 1
03. Kaka - The hotspurs (the less we know the faster we go)
04. Bitch Boys - Automobile
05. Benea Reach - Rejuvenate
06. TALK 2
07. The Second Band - The urgency of now
08. Breach - Murder
09. Montys Loco - Criminal
10. TALK 3
11. Det Gamla Landet - Krutrök
12. Trapdoor Fucking Exit - Cardiac arrest
13. I Am Bones - Home is the one corner of hell that didn't catch fire
14. TALK 4
15. Madrugada - Look away Lucifer
16. Timo Räisänen - Sixteen
17. When - The king
18. TALK 5
19. Beyond Dawn - Increasing the gravity
20. Ljudbilden & Piloten - Plokk
21. As In RebekkaMaria - She lion (Pato Sick Hangover remix)
22. TALK 6
23. Robert Svensson - 1987 (ft. Adam Olenius)
24. Paper - To her
25. Animal Alpha - Even when I'm wrong, I'm right
26. TALK 7
27. Niccokick - The poet
28. Asha Ali - Coward heart
29. Viola - I don't know how to party
30. TALK 8
31. Voices Break the Silence - No matter if it's now
32. Marybell Katastrophy - Red red lips
33. Anna Ternheim - Shoreline
34. TALK 9
35. Ulf Ljusberg - Here, me
36. Sir Eric Beyond and the Avant-garde - Democracy
37. Once We Were - Carnival
38. Birds On Holiday - I had a plan
39. TALK 10
40. Björn Kleinhenz - Tredje Långgatan 26

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:11:54 -0700

The playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Isolation Years - Frosted minds
02. TALK 1
03. Hyacinth House - Lucky stranger
04. Immanu El - Kosmonaut
05. Kamera - Fragile
06. TALK 2
07. Pay TV - Fashion report (clubmix)
08. Fun - I've got a truck
09. Timo Räisänen - Sixteen
10. TALK 3
11. Superfamily - Warszawa
12. Majessic Dreams - Still inside
13. The Indecision Alarm - Time for the big guns, baby
14. Boeoes Kaelstigen - Flir
15. TALK 4
16. The Fine Arts Showcase - Modern love
17. Karin Ström - Ordlös
18. Meleeh - Malign
19. TALK 5
20. Kongh - Pushed beyond
21. Baby Woodrose - Let yourself go
22. TALK 6
23. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet (Cat Burgler remix)
24. The Je Ne Sais Quoi - Rhythm
25. The Bell - I need nothing
26. September - Satellites
27. TALK 7
28. Piroth - Waltz for prima ballerina
29. Sällskapet - Järnstaden
30. Montt Mardié - Birthday boy (drama)
31. TALK 8
32. CS Nielsen - Bottle for the road
33. Susanna and the Magical Orchestra - Love will tear us apart
34. Voices Break the Silence - Mopo3
35. TALK 9
36. Plain Fade - Blue skies ahead

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0800

A new profile piece on Voices Break the Silence is now posted: [click here]

Profile: Voices Break the Silence

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0800

Name: Voices Break the Silence

From: Västerås, Sweden

Sounds like: Sharp and biting indie/post-hardcore that still remembers the power of the guitar

Listen: The way

Discography:
2006 - Demo

Links:
www.vbts.se
www.myspace.com/voicesbreakthesilence

A short note from Ola of Seven Feet Four was all I needed. A recommendation and a link, the promise of something new and impressive. These are the best kinds of discoveries - when you can sense the excitement in the sender. The music is so good, it begs to be heard, to be exposed to the world. This is Voices Breaks the Silence.

Who are you and where are you from? How did everyone in the band meet?

We are Voices Break the Silence from Västerås, Sweden. Robin Martinsson plays the bass, Victor Johnsson hits the drums, Björn Camenius on guitar me (Nicklas Sandström) and Dick play guitar and sing some. To do a long history short, we met through school.

What's your impression of the current Swedish/Scandinavian indie scene? What do you think is good about it and what needs improvement?

At the moment I think there are some interesting acts, especially some of the new, young upcoming ones. I think it's what the scene needs because some of the older bands have been around way too long to be interesting.

Who are some of these promising younger acts? What band(s) should I be watching? Grizzly Twister, The Blinds, Aerial, Mixtapes and Cellmates to name a few. Great guys and girls, great music.

On the flipside of that, what band should give up and call it a day?

I don't want any band to quit, I want them to play good music as they once did! So many older bands start experimenting with their sounds and that often takes away the edge of their music.

You're on tour in the Alps and get stranded in a blizzard with no food and no hope for rescue. Who do you eat first and why?

To get some protein from Robin and Victor would be impossible so it's probably me or maybe Björn that will be eaten!

What's your favorite movie right now? Why is it so awesome?

We are really a film band. One of the few things we have in common is zombie/ horror movies. But at the moment I'm really into the "Pink Panther" films. It's hard to choose one because Peter Sellers is brilliant in all of them. I hope he will rise from the grave and curse everyone that's involveved in the new "Pink Panther" movie.

What's the future for VBTS?

We hope and know that someone will release our full-length record. When the record is released, I hope that we will play live a lot, do some tours and have a really good time until we record the next one. But we always take one day at the time.

MP3: Voices Break the Silence - The way

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700

This week's hot tip: Voices Break the Silence. If you're at all into Convoj, The End Will Be Kicks, Seven Feet Four or any other "angular" rock acts, these guys will be right up your alley. In fact, it was Ola from Seven Feet Four who first told me about them - a day before Magnus from Chalksounds/Nomethod (the former being the label of both Convoj and TEWBK) sent me an excited IM with the same recommendation. The band remains unsigned for now, but I doubt it will take long for someone to pick them up. I know this sort of rock doesn't usually get people fired up like whatever flavor-of-the-week twee act is going 'round, but I live for this kind of stuff. It's got just the right balance of heaviness and melodicism: huge churning bass and slicing guitars. Also: I tried to interview them for this week's profile piece, but they never replied to my email. What gives? Get back to me!

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700

Voices Break the Silence may not have replied to my interview invitation (UPDATE: they did now), but Svein Egil Hatlevik of Zweizz did: [click here]
Hatlevik is known for his work with avant black-metal acts Dødheimsgard and Fleurety. Zweizz is his latest project and his new album "The yawn of the new age" will be out early next year on Vendlus.

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 00:00:00 -0700

Swedish indierockers Voices Break the Silence have posted an mp3 from their brand new EP for download: http://www.vbts.se/ (under "media")
The band compares their sound to Trail of Dead, Fugazi and other likeminded rock bands.