I am thrilled to announce that in addition to the previously announced It's a Trap! Clubnights gigs with We Are the Storm/Helsinki Poetry (this Friday! holy shit!) and Caotico (April 13!), we will be welcoming Millencolin/The Peepshows indierock sideproject Franky Lee plus Tiger Bell to the stage of Debaser Malmö on February 17. And that's not all: we've also got Vånna Inget, EL-SD and Gamla Pengar coming down on March 16 and you know that one is gonna rule! Wish I could be there personally, but hey, maybe I'll make it over this coming summer.
We're still over a week away from the new year, but that's not gonna stop us from unveiling the first confirmations of our 2012 It's a Trap! Clubnights! Up first on January 20, we've got Uppsala's We are the Storm plus from Denmark, the confusingly-named Helsinki Poetry. Dates in February and March are still pending, but April is already on lock with Caotico set to grace the stage! Expect more details soon!
It's a Trap! Clubnight update! First, We are the Storm's gig on September 24 has been cancelled, but don't worry -- bigger, better things will be happening for the band to come. Details shortly! Secondly, Like Rats From A Sinking Ship have been forced to cancel our October show, but again, there's no need to worry! Excellent Swedish noiserockers Tennis Bafra will be taking their place! Third, we'll be hosting Deathcrush from Norway in November along with Danish duo Fossils as support! Awesome! Be there!
It's a Trap! Clubnights for the fall season are starting to be confirmed and we've already got We Are the Storm coming on September 24 and then Kriget + Like Rats from a Sinking Ship on October 1. November is almost confirmed as well with a killer Norwegian act and I'll be sure to fill you in as soon as it's ready for public dissemination. Also, more crucially imminent: Into the Woods, the new band of Sara Wilson (First Floor Power, Kitchen and the Plastic Spoons), has been added to the bill on July 16 with Kajsa Grytt! If you find yourself near Malmö on any of those dates, you know where to go!
At last, the proper debut single from We are the Storm, the first off their forthcoming full-length "To the North-Pole". Been looking forward to this for awhile!
We are the Storm have signed with and will be releasing their new single "Galileo" next week. The band's full-length debut "To the North-Pole" will follow later on down the road.
Mr. Jonas Appelqvist, our esteemed IAT! colleague and the booker of our Malmö clubnight, has launched a new booking agency with his partner Sofia Qvarnström called Brother/Sister. Their initial roster, only some of Sweden's finest up-and-coming indie acts: Simian Ghost, Leaders Off, I'm Kingfisher, In These Woods, First Love, Last Rites, NAVET and We Are the Storm. Hit up their website for more info: http://www.brothersister.se/
I am a big appreciator of the large gesture. Pixie Carnation and We are the Storm are two fine examples of contemporary Swedish acts achieving epic indie rock grandeur; Another Nation's National Anthem is another. The band's new EP "Conscious castle" is a concept work that flows steadily from track to track, from one climatic moment to the next; in between are moments of refined melancholy that remind me of Tiger Lou, especially on the two-part "Hold, stranger". The band's own descriptor of "massive" implies a heaviness that they lack, but they got the size part right on. Many acts have been following similar paths in the wake of Arcade Fire, most of them falling far short; ANNA succeeds with their restrained bombast and a balanced fragility/woundedness. They could probably still do more to differentiate themselves from the rabble, but I can't begrudge a song like "About your fathers" when it does it so well.
I have to say, I like this song a heckuva lot more than I thought I would. I expected overwrought emo-pop silliness and while The Shiloh are definitely rooted in such terrain, their new single is really just a great pop song. Still leaning towards overwrought perhaps, but in a good way. Though maybe not quite as stellar as We are the Storm's "I woke up to the bells", it's got a similar appeal, it pulls the same heartstrings. Oh, and bonus points for a star turn by the daughter of IAT.MP3 artist Racingpaperplanes/Richard Wilson! Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX0aB0RfNsc
