Millencolin in Canada

Millencolin is coming to North America for the first time in ages and have lined up a show on March 7 at the Opera House in Toronto. Expect more to follow?

MP3: Superdong - Don Lombardo

Thanks to mRa for this one! I had heard of the band Superdong for a long, long time, but only got a chance to hear them when they appeared on myspace. They've been sort of a Holy Grail act in my mind - these are the guys who later formed Fireside and Breach, after all, bands that have both factored very prominently in my love of Swedish/Scandinavian music. So to know a band existing, to know they have recordings, but yet to search fruitlessly for years... that's frustrating. Of course, the larger the legacy becomes to me, the more likely I am to be disappointed, but I'm actually kind of stoked to hear Kristofer Åström sing skaterock. "Don Lombardo" isn't as amazing as say, the early Him Kerosene track from the same comp ("Salmons of Hort"), but it's solid and well-representative of the era (1995). It's also infinitely better than everything else on said comp: Lapdog, The Fitz Geralds (or is that Fitzgeralds?), Stoned and Millencolin. 3rd wave ska-punk, no thank you. The early/mid-90s was a promising time for Norrland indierock, but it took some time to get going. It's fun to listen back.

Superdong - Don Lombardo

Peter Ahlqvist of Burning Heart Records has started a new full-service record label called Panic & Action and has already recruited three bands to his roster: Chemical Vocation, Adept and Social Siberia. Working together with him is Eric Höjden from BHR act Kid Down and booking agent Andreas Skogmo, the winner of the 2006 Millencolin Music Prize for his DIY show promotion in Örebro with District 19. Look for new albums and tours with Chemical Vocation and Adept this fall, to be followed by a Social Siberia album in the spring along with a compilation/tour package under the "Panic & Action" banner. More: http://www.myspace.com/panicandaction / http://www.myspace.com/panicandactiontour

Swedish skatepunks Millencolin will tour the UK in September:

09/23 - Academy, Birmingham
09/24 - Academy, Bristol
09/25 - LA 2, London
09/26 - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
09/27 - Rock City, Nottingham
09/28 - Academy 3, Manchester
09/29 - Garage, Glasgow

Millencolin
Machine 15
Burning Heart Records

Millencolin have been going now for 15-16 years, hence the name of their seventh album (it sounds a bit cynical and bitter to call your band a "machine", doesn't it?). Lou Giordano who produced Millencolin's fifth album "Home from home" has again been called in, I suspect, to give the album that polished Foo-Fighters-feel, and he's succeeded. It is a very slick album, with Millencolin nurturing their softer more melodic side. They've also gone a bit wacky and added strings on some of the tracks, a trick that works just fine despite it not being that obvious. I prefer Millencolin when they've got a sound that's dirtier and more rock'n'roll and with less arena rock ambitions, so I'm not that keen on this album. Another thing that bugs me is that Nikola Sarcevic's lyrics are really terrible. I mean, they're among the worse I've ever heard; even though he's pretty good at writing choruses, some of the verses just make me cringe. Millencolin's lyrics have always been bad and full of horrible rhymes, but listening to "Machine 15" I can't help getting outright annoyed by them. Despite all this, it's a solid album with a handful of skatepunk hits that should appeal to the Kerrang/Alternative Press demographic.
- Simon Tagestam

This week's top 20 Swedish album chart:

01. Christer Sjögren - Jubileum 40 år med Christer Sjögren
02. BWO - Pandemonium - The singles collection
03. Håkan Hellström - För sent för Edelweiss
04. In Flames - A sense of purpose
05. Oh Laura - A song inside my head, a demon in my bed
06. Millencolin - Machine 15
07. Ane Brun - Changing of the seasons
08. Amy Diamond - Music in motion
09. Linda Bengtzing - Vild & galen
10. Streaplers - Rakt av
11. Tingsek - Too many feelings at the same time
12. Pugh Rogefeldt - vinn hjärta vinn
14. Nordman - Djävul eller gud
15. Monica Zetterlund - Sakta vi gå genom stan - Det bästa med Monica
16. Maia Hirasawa - Though, I'm just me (new edition)
17. Veronica Maggio - och vinnaren är...
18. Takida - Bury the lies
19. Markus Krunegård - Markusevangeliet
20. Caracola - This is Caracola

The new Millencolin album "Machine 15" is now streaming at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/millencolin

The video for the new Millencolin single "Detox" is up on myspace: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=29125537

West Coast Riot is a new punk/hardcore fest happening in Göteborg, Sweden on June 26. First acts confirmed include recently reformed Swedes Moderat Likvidation as well as Millencolin and Nofx. Read more: http://www.westcoastriot.se/

Millencolin's new album "Machine 15" is confirmed for release on April 7. Read the press release with new European tourdates: http://www.burningheart.com/news/article.php?id=475
The first single "Brand new game" is streaming here: http://www.myspace.com/millencolin

Blue for Two, the duo of Fredrik Wadling (Cortex) and Henryk Lipp (known for his production work with Thåström, Millencolin, Håkan Hellström, among others), have a new website: http://www.bluefortwo.com/
Check the music section for a sample from their forthcoming album.

Millencolin's new album will be released sometime around March/April. Look for extensive touring to follow, including dates in Australia.

Millencolin now have their very own signature headphones: http://www.millencolin.com/news/

Millencolin are blogging from the studio as they work on their new album: http://www.millencolin.com/
Read the official press release here: http://www.burningheart.com/news/article.php?id=464

Millencolin will be going into Sound Lab Studios in Örebro on October 26 to begin work on their next album. Lou Giordano, the same guy who produced "Home from home" is once again on-board to help with the proceedings. In other Millencolin news, the band is now managed by Kimmo Kirvesmäki at Big Mouth Productions.