In These Woods' self-titled debut/final? EP from late 2010 didn't make much of a splash, but it's still one of my favorite indierock releases of recent memory. While I love bands like Culkin and Tennis Bafra, they're often operating more off of a classic US indie template as opposed to ITW's inherent Swedish-ness. Of course it all comes from the same place if you trace it back far enough, but ITW has a far stronger direct kinship to Him Kerosene and Fireside than Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr.. It's in the sharpness of the rhythms, the way the melodies move and layer; there's nothing else like it.
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.
Watch I Used to be a Sparrow, the duo of Dick Pettersson (In These Woods) and Italian expat Andrea Caccese (Songs For The Sleepwalkers), cover an old tune by Appleseed Cast. Look for the band's debut album "Luke" to be released in April via .
Arrow Meet Francis is a new solo project from Dick Pettersson of the excellent indie act In These Woods and, while I'm not sure if he'd consider "Arrows" a "mere" demo recording or what, it's a great tune and incredibly promising for what's to come. If he gets time to work on it, that is... ITW are currently busy working on their debut full-length and if the sample track they sent me is any indication, it's gonna be fantastic.
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/
has posted sample tunes from their two new singles coming out this month, "I'm gone" from First Love, Last Rites and "Bear" by In These Woods: http://nomethod.se/?p=270
has picked up Swedish indierockers In These Woods (as first premiered here) and will be releasing the band's self-titled debut EP on December 13. Read more/hear another sample tune: http://nomethod.se/?p=120
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. Simian Ghost - Beat on the brat
02. TALK 1
03. End of All - Folkhemmet
04. In These Woods - Bear
05. The Bells - Outside
06. Britta Persson - Some girls some boys
07. TALK 2
08. Kråkesølv - Nordavind mot varme kinn
09. Tomas Halberstad - The pendulum swings again
10. WhoMadeWho - Left hand of the boxser
11. TALK 3
12. Säkert! - Köttet är svagt
13. Next Life - Battle tactics
14. Kaka - Candyman
15. The Fine Arts Showcase - Spanish kerosene
16. TALK 4
17. Kimono - Black
18. Axe - Up against common sense
19. NNDC - Mouthful of diamonds
20. Slöa Knivar - Anticimex
21. Enforcer - Take me to hell
22. TALK 5
23. Ikons - Imperiet
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.
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.
