To be completely honest, I've always kinda Quagmire (nee QGMR) to be noiserock also-rans. They've had a few good moments, but they've always paled in comparison to the acts of the 1st tier. Until now, that is -- the band's new album "We know we don't know" is far and away the best thing they've done. Less pedantic noodling, more drive ala Drive Like Jehu. "Pre-emptive retaliation" buzzes and hums along, sounding not too unlike Division of Laura Lee, 'cept that Quagmire does better on the chorus by throwing in some excellent dual-guitar melodies that push them closer to Seven Feet Four territory. Above all, I'm just happy there's still bands out there making this kind of music and doing it well. Shame that they're still the same folks doing it as back in the day, but what can you do?
Quagmire - Pre-emptive retaliation
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.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you the new Division of Laura Lee single "Central Park". This is the first single from their forthcoming album "Violence is timeless", due out in limited vinyl format on August 15 with the CD version to follow on October 29. But that's not all! They've also enlisted the help of many friends and peers to create videos for each and every track and will be slowly releasing them to the public as we get closer to the album's release. Peep the first clip for "Central Park" right here, courtesy of UK-based animation team Man vs Machine: [click here]
Also, seeing as how a new DoLL single ties in nicely with my weekly Göteborg Spotlight Series, I decided to track down drummer Håkan Johansson to answer a few questions. Read on...
First, my standard question: how long have you lived in Gbg, what brought you there and what keeps you hanging around?
Per (Stålberg, vocals/gtr) and I had been talking for a while about moving the band to Gothenburg and try to make some kind of music career, but it wasn't until I got approved to artschool that I grabbed my stuff and left Vänersborg. This was in 2001. Gothenburg has pretty much everything you need. Great music and art scene, clubs, bars and most important all the friends I have made during the years here.
I hear a very strong DC influence on the new album - is that a conscious thing? Are you trying to separate yourselves from the Gbg sound? Does such a thing as a Gbg sound even exist? Or are you just hanging out with Shelby Cinca¹ too much?
We have never really aimed for a DC sound, but after growing up with the Discord catalog on our record shelves I think it was unavoidable. When we started this band we wanted to create the same vibe that the DC scene had, and this has followed us throughout the journey. Yeah, hanging with Shelby in DC a lot the last couple of years reminds me of this frequently. The Gothenburg sound... ah yes.. I see us more of the outsider in this bunch. We are a part of the Gothenburg scene, but I don't know if we are a part of the sound. To be honest with you Avi, I'm not sure this "sound" even exists.
Speaking of Shelby and DC, are you still active with Man and Wasp/Frantic Mantis or have you consigned yourself to doing locally-oriented sideprojects like the rest of your bandmates? Do you think there's anything particular about the Gbg scene that makes it easier for folks to collaborate? Also, how awesome is Repoman?
Frantic Mantis are on a hiatus. Man and Wasp is the main sideproject at the moment. We are working on an album that might or might not come out in one shape or the other next year. All the side projects I have been involved in have never been planned. We just had some extra time to jam, and the ability to record it. When playing with Shelby everything just turns into gold. I think there are so many projects around here in Gothenburg 'cause everybody knows everybody, and playing music with people other than your regular bandmates is a way to play other styles and develop as a musician. Yeah Repoman is awesome! I am still bummed I wasn't asked to play drums for them.
Does the same sort of collaborative/cooperative community exist in the Gbg art world as well? I know of a few other local Gbg musicians who double as artists and vice-versa besides yourself, but do you think there's much crossover overall? How would you say the two worlds are the same/different?
Music and art just goes hand in hand. Just look at iDEAL as a label and artcollective, and then Silverbullit with Jon and Andreas who're doing awesome music, videos, projections and art. Nowadays, and even 10 years ago, the DIY way was the way to do it. When a band or artist wanted to release a record, a record cover had to be done. Then you wanted to make some merchandise, a website etc., but there was no money to pay for it. You had to do it yourself. And I think this has grown stronger over the years. Personally, I think doing a record cover for a free dinner is way more fun than doing a company branding that pays your rent for a full year...
Who came up with the concept of getting friends to film videos for each song on the new album? How do you think the experiment came out? Any favorites we can look forward to?
This was something that I Made This came up with. We loved it the second we heard the idea. I won't spill too much, but I love the one Kristofer Åström did. And although I haven't seen them yet, I am especially excited about the ones Joe Lally from Fugazi and Jason Lytle from Grandaddy are putting together.
Tell us about the new single "Central Park"!
I will quote Jonas (Gustavsson, bass) on this one:
"Music is time consuming. Four years, we waited for this song. When it finally arrived, it was finished in four minutes. Four chords. It's yours for free, because some secrets are to reveal."
LINK: http://www.violenceistimeless.com/
Division of Laura Lee - Central Park
The official press release finally went out today so I guess it's worth noting that the release of the new Division of Laura Lee album "Violence is timeless" will be preceded by a series of friend-created clips for each track, including the likes of José Gonzáles, Joe Lally (Fugazi) and Kristofer Åström. The first single "Central Park" is out August 1 and, as I mentioned before, the LP comes out on August 15 with the CD following on October 29. Also look for a limited t-shirt + dropcard/mp3 remix package to be released in the near future as well.
Back home safe and (relatively) sound. Huge thanks to Kristofer Kebbon at STIM for making the trip a reality, Craig Bonnell of Swedesplease for being a great festival companion, Jonas and Sofia for putting me up in Malmö, Johan, Ludwig, Stina, Elin and Linda for being great hosts in Umeå, and of course, everyone else I met along the way for being kind and generous and tolerant of my awful Swedish skills. Also: huge congrats once again to Magnus and Karin (and Ossian)! We'll have to do it again sometime, okay?
This week's mp3 posts will cover a small selection of the various records I picked up on my trip, but no, I won't be posting anything from the new Division of Laura Lee yet. The time for that will come soon enough, so be patient! Instead first up I bring you I Am Droid, one of Razzia Records' most recent signing. Their take on the whole dark, urban rock thing ala Interpol isn't the most original thing in the world, but they do it really well, especially on a few songs such as "Blood & ether". I love the droning tap-tap-tap of the piano that persists throughout the entire track, that old rock'n'roll trick that never gets old. It's about creating a mood, something I realized when I heard it playing in a record store in Malmö -- I thought yes, this sounds good right now.
I Are Droid - Blood & ether
Division of Laura Lee is now signed to I Made This and will be releasing their new album "Violence is timeless" on October 29. More info very, very soon (official press release goes out Monday, or so I'm told).
UPDATE: the limited-edition vinyl and iPod come out August 15 with the CD version (+2 bonus tracks) on October 29. See here: http://www.violenceistimeless.com/
Division of Laura Lee will trek to London for a show at Astoria 2 on February 23 presented by Push. A crapload of various DJs will also be on-hand to entertain the crowd as well, including the folks from Tack!Tack!Tack!
Håkan Johansson (Division of Laura Lee) has once again teamed up with Carcrash Records partner/fellow Frantic Mantis member Shelby Cinca (Frodus) in a new band called Man and Wasp, also featuring Mike Schleibaum from Darkest Hour. Listen at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/manandwasp
9
The furious opening track ("Cursory") leads the way. You can tell that this band apologizes for nothing. Per Stålberg from Division of Laura Lee is featured in the line-up and, to some extent, it shows. Especially in "A jawbone night" where the indie-/noiserock that DoLL does so well is present during the entire song. Besides that, this has nothing to do with said band, seeing that we're dealing with vicious hardcore in the vein of Jesus Lizard and Minor Threat and, basically, the entire Dischord back-catalogue. Add a little Converge to that recipe and we have a winner. Because this is the most intense stuff I've heard from a Swedish band for quite some time now. In fact, not since I heard Step Forward's "Away" for the first time have I been this blown away. And that right there shows for something. Hell, the breakdown in "Chemically obsessed" sends shivers down the spine. Definitely on my top 10 for 2007! Hardcore attack? You bet!
- Jonas Appelqvist
Repoman