I told you about the upcoming Diskoteket LP the other day, now I bring you a sample tune. Forget about the mediocre new Thåström album, this is the brooding Swedish darkness you desire. Echoes of Commando M Pigg, Tant Strul and other exemplary postpunk of the past, but with its own sense of urgency and vitality. "Mörka tankar" is only one of two songs I've been privileged to hear so far, but it went straight to the top of my wantlist.
Diskoteket - Mörka tankar
Copenhagen-based Industrial/postpunk label has announced two new releases, a 12" from Swedish act Street Drinkers and a 2x C-40 comp entitled "Port out, starboard home" which is devoted to "the struggles of human trafficking to Scandinavia." More info here and also via Discogs.
Solid new punkrock from Northern Sweden featuring members from UX Vileheads.
has announced that they will be releasing the debut album "Det ska se ut som slutet" from Uppsala, Sweden-based act Diskoteket as part of their series. Listen to some old tracks via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Diskoteket
Says the label: "Diskoteket ascends the Upplandian underground with forty minutes of brutally romantic post-punk; "...slutet" is lush, raw, pompous and painfully honest."
has signed Danish noisepop/postpunk trio Shiny Darkly and will be releasing the band's debut EP in May.
will be releasing a new 19-track LP from Swedish mangel-punx Massgrav this coming April oh-so-modestly titled "Still the kings". Read more: http://dbeatrawpunk.blogspot.com/2012/02/massgrav-are-still-kings.html
The band will also be releasing a new cassette with the even better title of "Too fast for Ove" via in March as a precursor. 3 album tracks, 1 exclusive cut and 100 copies only, so interested folks should probably jump on it if they want one.
Hyped Malmö punkrockers Terrible Feelings have been picked up by ' new imprint for the release of their upcoming full-length debut "Shadows", due out April 16. will handle the release in Europe and will take care of the band in America.
Check out some demo tunes from the new classic Swedish punk/progg-influenced act Den Inre Striden. A little rough around the edges, but I dig where they're going.
New sounds from Swedish/German art-damaged punks Jailhouse Fuck off their just-released split 10" with the like-minded Glasgow-based act Divorce (). More here.
and are teaming up to release a new 4-song 7" EP from Swedish punkrockers Vånna Inget called "Jag ska fly tills jag hittar hem". Full details: http://erstetheketontraeger.blogspot.com/2011/12/ett-005-vanna-inget-ep.html
Swedish thrashers Infernöh will be releasing their debut 12" LP "War tjard" via featuring 5 new cuts b/w the 5-track demo. No exact release date yet, but pre-orders are being taken for the first pressing of 500. Hear two of the a-side ragers above.
I always make an effort to check out the various Manifest Awards nominees because, inevitably, there's always at least a few quality names that have previously escaped my attention. I don't worry so much about who actually won or who was unfairly passed over, I just want new music. As for the punk category: I'm already a fan of Vånna Inget and happily grabbed a copy of their excellent LP via 1-2-3-4 Go! Records; Obnoxious Youth's stiff thrashy hardcore is not my thing at all, but kudos to them for winning; and I must confess, I don't know Black Feet at all, but that will be remedied eventually. Which leaves Sju Svåra År, a band that I've been aware of for awhile, but never fully investigated until very recently. Shame on me, because they are ruling female-fronted melodic punk, not too dissimilar from the aforementioned Vånna Inget or other acts like Masshysteri and The Vicious. So yeah, right up my alley -- especially when they combine exquisite vocal harmonies with raw grit like on tracks such as "Pappa". I may have neglected to track down a copy of their LP before now, but that will soon be remedied.
Sju Svåra År - Pappa
Some of Franky Lee's bio material attempts to peg them as an indierock throwback, but there's no comparison to bands such as Tennis Bafra or Culkin. No, Franky Lee is a straight-up turn-of-the-millennium style arena-sized alternative rock act ala Foo Fighters or Jimmy Eat World. Which is by no means a bad thing! The band I'm currently playing with kind of attempts to cop that sound too, for what it's worth, though we probably throw in a few more new-wavey influences. Anyhow, I really do like this sort of stuff despite it being patently uncool in many social circles. It's definitely not punk to aspire to such pop grandeur -- a funny thing to note when you consider Franky Lee's member pedigree (likewise, in my own band's case). I guess there's a freedom in getting old in that those sort of petty things don't seem to matter as much anymore. I'm feeling it, signed: an unapologetic fan of pop convention. Go see Franky Lee when they play Debaser Malmö next week at It's a Trap!'s clubnight.
Franky Lee - A man without a heart
DödsvargOne man army Jon Ekström is the sole creator of the material on here, having succeeded in constructing an album that flies in the face of classification. The songs touch on a variety of genres within the metal spectrum and are cemented together with an industrial punk mindset that allows "Livet är en dödsorsak" to progress with an authentic fluidity not often found on releases displaying so many influences. If there's one uniting factor on the album, it's the raw sound that Ekström has gone for. It's a sound at odds with the super-shiny productions usually found on albums that make use of such off-kilter material and also one that is more akin to the crust and sludge genres than any sort of math-metally algorithms. "Livet är en dödsorsak" takes quite a few spins before it beds in, but, given that chance, it's a refreshing -- if quite dirty -- collection of songs that don't give the slightest toss about convention.
- John Norby
A brand new video from Swedish melodic hardcore/punk act Atlas Losing Grip. Great band!
