Norwegian punkrockers Johndoe will be doing a couple gigs in Sweden next month with their pals Randy:

12/13 - Kafé 44, Stockholm
12/14 - Debaser, Stockholm
12/16 - Pusterviksteatern, Göteborg
12/17 - Arenan, Falun, Arenan

Eastpak Antidote Tour
Live @ the Astoria, London, 12/02/2005

Randy always blow me away when I see them play live and I'd recommend everyone to try and catch them if they happen to come to play anywhere near where you live. Their show on this night was no exception to above statement (even though the crowd participation was pretty "tame"). It's the first time I've seen Randy play songs from their last album, hopefully they'll come back soon to do a proper headline gig. Whereas the people watching Randy didn't seem that interested, in Millencolin's case it was Nikola Sarcevic – their singer – who appear quite aloof (the kids didn't seem to care though and went nuts, as always when Millencolin are in town). This didn't bother me too much though since when I walked into the venue I bumped into an acquaintance of mine, whose company combined with some beers made the whole night (Millencolin's show included) a fun experience.
- Simon Tagestam

Randy has a new album that just came out, but I'm not going to post a track from it. It's not because it isn't great, because it is (Simon Tagestam reviewed it here), but instead I'm going to reminisce about the record that got me into the band: 2001's "The human atom bombs". Every couple years or so, just about when I'm about to totally give up on punk-rock, along comes a record that breathes new life into the genre. Refused did it to me in the late 90s and Randy did it again with this record. It's not even that they were doing anything all that original - it's that they were doing it with such enthusiasm and vitality that it was impossible not to stand up and take notice. "The human atom bombs" is fun and funny, energetic and entertaining and just all around amazing. So here's a track from that record that'll hopefully help brighten up your Friday.

MP3: Randy - I don't need love

Randy has a new album that just came out, but I'm not going to post a track from it. It's not because it isn't great, because it is (Simon Tagestam reviewed it here), but instead I'm going to reminisce about the record that got me into the band: 2001's "The human atom bombs". Every couple years or so, just about when I'm about to totally give up on punk-rock, along comes a record that breathes new life into the genre. Refused did it to me in the late 90s and Randy did it again with this record. It's not even that they were doing anything all that original - it's that they were doing it with such enthusiasm and vitality that it was impossible not to stand up and take notice. "The human atom bombs" is fun and funny, energetic and entertaining and just all around amazing. So here's a track from that record that'll hopefully help brighten up your Friday.

Randy - I don't need love

Randy finally has a new website: http://www.randytheband.com/

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (02) Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet U Look Good on the Dancefloor"
02. (03) Tiger Lou - "The Loyal"
03. (NY) Franz Ferdinand - "Walk Away"
04. (04) Christian Kjellvander - "Drunken Hands"
05. (01) Test Icicles - "Circle Square Triangle"
06. (07) Saïan Supa Crew - "La Patte"
07. (09) David Sandström Overdrive - "The Crotch of a Saturday"
08. (10) The Pipettes - "Dirty Mind"
09. (15) Kristian Antilla - "Paul Weller"
10. (16) The Sunshine - "Simon Le Bon"
11. (06) The Embassy - "It Pays to Belong"
12. (13) Röyksopp - "What Else is There?"
13. (14) Pharell - "Angel"
14. (20) Loveninjas - "Keep Your Love"
15. (NY) Le Sport - "Business Girls"
16. (NY) Karl Larsson - "Devil Strings"
17. (NY) Sophie Zelmani - "I Can't Change"
18. (18) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah "Is This Love?"
19. (ÅT) Bloc Party - "Two More Years"
20. (ÅT) Architecture in Helsinki - "Do the Whirlwind"

Leaving the chart: Katie Goes to Tokyo, Queens of the Stone Age, Randy, Sophie Rimheden, The Strokes and Willowtree.

Satanic Surfers
Taste the poison
Bad Taste Records

With new releases this year from Millencolin, Randy and now Satanic Surfers, it feels like I'm 12 years old again. Fortunately, none of these bands sounds like they did in the beginning of their careers, which is cool since it means that I can think of myself as 'mature' instead of 'old' (I hope that makes sense; perhaps you need to be 25+ to understand). Anyhow, aging paranoia aside, Satanic Surfers' new album is not as emo, poppy, or sugary sweet as their last great album ("Unconsciously confined" from 2002), but it's still as good as Satanic Surfers always have been. If you've never heard SS, think of something like As Friends Rust at their best (early EPs), but less hardcore and more melodic (it's basically melodic punk rock). It's very comforting that that a lot of these Swedish (melodic-) punk veterans that I've sort of grown up with still got what it takes, without me having to shield myself behind some dire nostalgia while listening to them.
- Simon Tagestam

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (03) Test Icicles - "Circle Square Triangle"
02. (08) Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet U Look Good on the Dancefloor"
03. (04) Tiger Lou - "The Loyal"
04. (05) Christian Kjellvander - "Drunken Hands"
05. (17) The Strokes - "Juicebox"
06. (NY) The Embassy - "It Pays to Belong"
07. (06) Saïan Supa Crew - "La Patte"
08. (04) Queens of the Stone Age - "Burn the Witch"
09. (07) David Sandström Overdrive - "The Crotch of a Saturday"
10. (NY) The Pipettes - "Dirty Mind"
11. (11) Katie Goes to Tokyo - "Moving From This Town"
12. (09) Willowtree - "Attention Ms"
13. (15) Röyksopp - "What Else is There?"
14. (NY) Pharrell - "Angel"
15. (01) Kristian Anttila - "Paul Weller"
16. (NY) The Sunshine - "Simon Le Bon"
17. (12) Sophie Rimheden - "Can You Save Me?"
18. (NY) Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah - "Is This Love?"
19. (18) Randy - "Razorblade"
20. (20) Loveninjas - "Keep Your Love"

Leaving the chart: Architecture in Helsinki, Bloc Party, Princess Superstar, Thåström and Tiga.

This week's top artists for the It's a trap! Last.fm/Audioscrobbler listening group:

01. The Decemberists
02. Franz Ferdinand
03. Sigur Rós
04. Broken Social Scene
05. Interpol
06. The Cardigans
07. Kent
08. Sufjan Stevens
09. Death Cab for Cutie

Top tracks:

01. Håkan Hellström - Ge mig arsenik
02. I'm from Barcelona - Treehouse
03. I'm from Barcelona - We're From Barcelona
04. The Decemberists - Leslie Anne Levine
05. Animal Collective - Grass
06. I'm from Barcelona - The Painter
07. The Mopeds - Refused Demo Land
08. Animal Collective - Did You See the Words
09. Randy - Better Than Art

If you listen to music on your computer, join us and share your playlists! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (01) Kristian Anttila - "Paul Weller"
02. (05) Tiger Lou - "The Loyal"
03. (NY) Test Icicles - "Circle Square Triangle"
04. (NY) Queens of the Stone Age - " Burn the Witch"
05. (07) Christian Kjellvander - "Drunken Hands"
06. (14) Saian Supa Crew - "La Patte"
07. (04) David Sandström Overdrive - "The Crotch of a Saturday"
08. (NY) Arctic Monkeys - "I Bet U Look Good on the Dancefloor"
09. (03) Willowtree - "Attention Ms"
10. (05) Tiga - "You Gonna Want Me"
11. (06) Katie Goes to Tokyo - "Moving From This Town"
12. (19) Sophie Rimheden - "Can You Save Me"
13. (09) Bloc Party - "Two More Years"
14. (NY) Architecture in Helsinki - "Do the Whirlwind"
15. (12) Röyksopp - "What Else is There?"
16. (NY) Thåström - "Fanfanfan"
17. (NY) The Strokes - "Juicebox"
18. (ÅT) Randy - "Razorblade"
19. (15) Princess Superstar - "My Machine"
20. (11) Loveninjas - "Keep Your Love"

Leaving the chart: Acid House Kings, Brakes, CDOASS, Paris, Pharell, Pete Philly & Perquisite and The Rakes

Just like I suspected, Fat Wreck has licensed the new Randy album "Randy the band" for release in the US and will put it out on January 10. This isn't the first time they've worked together: if you remember that recent 2xCD Burning Heart comp featured a duet with Randy and Fat label honcho Fat Mike (also of NOFX). Hopefully this means the band will finally get the attention they deserve when it comes time to promote the damn thing. But what I really wanna know - when's the tour?

I don't normally post tourdates for bands playing shows within Scandinavia, but the pairing of Randy and Johndoe is too good to pass on. Dates:

10/19 - Garage, Oslo
10/20 - Byscenen, Haugesund
10/21 - Kvarteret, Bergen
10/22 - Coffee Annan, Isak, Trondheim
10/22 - Blæst, Trondheim

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (01) Kristian Anttila - "Paul Weller"
02. (02) Tiga - "You Gonna Want Me"
03. (08) Death Cab for Cutie - "Soul Meets Body"
04. (13) Bloc Party - "Two More Years"
05. (03) Acid House Kings - "Tonight is Forever"
06. (07) Röyksopp - "What Else is There?"
07. (05) Hard Fi - "Hard to Beat"
08. (06) Svenska Akademien & Promoe - "En varning"
09. (09) Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - "Loop Duplicate My Heart"
10. (04) Kanye West - "Golddigger"
11. (14) Alf - "Sött/salt"
12. (ÅT) Weeping Willows - "I'm Gonna Let Love Find Me"
13. (17) Stars - "Ageless Beauty"
14. (NY) Pharell - "Can I Have It Like That" (w/Gwen Stefani)
15. (NY) Audio Bully's - "I'm in Love"
16. (ÅT) Turbonegro - "City of Satan"
17. (ÅT) Panthers - "Thanks for the Simulacra"
18. (11) Jem - "Just a Ride"
19. (12) Franz Ferdinand - "Do You Want To"
20. (NY) Tegan and Sara - "Speak Low"

Leaving the chart: Embassy, The Greatest Hits, Hello Saferide, Randy, The Legends and They Live By Night.

The video for the new Randy single "Razorblade" is now online: http://www.burningheart.com/videos/search.php?bid=3

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (NY) Kristian Anttila - "Paul Weller"
02. (NY) Tiga - "You Gonna Want Me"
03. (01) Acid House Kings - "Tonight is Forever"
04. (05) Kanye West - "Golddigger"
05. (NY) Hard Fi - "Hard to Beat"
06. (NY) Svenska Akademien & Promoe - "En varning"
07. (04) Röyksopp - "What Else is There?"
08. (02) Death Cab for Cutie - "Soul Meets Body"
09. (08) Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - "Loop Duplicate My Heart"
10. (ÅT) Embassy - "Some Indulgence"
11. (09) Jem  - "Just a Ride"
12. (06) Franz Ferdinand - "Do You Want To"
13. (NY) Bloc Party - "Two More Years"
14. (NY) Alf - "Söttsalt"
15. (NY) Randy - "Razorblade"
16. (07) The Greatest Hits - "Give it to Me Baby (med Jesse)"
17. (NY) Stars - "Ageless Beauty"
18. (10) Hello Saferide - "If I don't Write This Song, Somehone I Love Will Die"
19. (13) They Live by Night - "Truth or Dare"
20. (14) The Legends - "He Knows the Sun"