Billie the Vision to Spain

Billie the Vision & The Dancers will be coming to Spain in October:

10/21 - University of Vigo, Vigo
10/23 - Circulo de bellas artes de Madrid, Madrid

MP3: Shredhead - Dork

For as much as I love to extol the virtues of 90s-era indierock, truth be told, it wasn't always golden. I should know, having grown up in the SF Bay Area, the epicenter of the thrash-funk scene. We had a lot of the big names, from Primus, Mr. Bungle and Faith No More to less well-known acts like Fungo Mungo, Psychefunkapus and so on. Slap-bass was everywhere, it permeated every genre, every scene. Sweden was of course, not immune. Before there was KVLR, there was Shredhead. Before there was Ray Wonder, there was Shredhead (but after Step Forward). Yep, top-secret Umeå all-stars playing thrash-funk. Or maybe not so secret? I'll mention no names myself, after all, I have my own thrash-funk past to keep buried. And honestly, this stuff really isn't all that embarrassing. It's merely a product of its time, a relic of an age since passed. Just wait until the inevitable revival, it's bound to happen someday.

Shredhead - Dork

I figure I might as well keep with the theme of the most recent podcast and post another fine track from Starmarket. I was considering trying to track down some Shredhead mp3s, but I get the feeling that those dudes probably don't want that stuff distributed online so prominently. Anyhow- Starmarket, as you can probably infer, are another fine band from Umeå in Northern Sweden. Their sound is part mid-90s noisepop mixed with a bit of post-hardcore, kinda like Fireside who I featured on a Friday classic post two weeks ago. This track happens to be one of the more tender numbers from the band's early period. It's incredibly melodic, but rhythm section keeps things heavy and powerful. The band is still kicking around nowadays, but they've gone through quite a few member changes over the years. Magnus and Johan went on to form KVLR (one of my absolute favorite bands), Patrik plays with Family Music and Fredrik also does The Crystal Committee. There's probably tons more too, but really - who needs to read through their entire incestous musical family tree? Not gonna happen. Just download the track whydoncha?