The (International) Noise Conspiracy will fly to LA on February 19 to begin preproduction on their next album.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy is currently working on material for their next album and have tentative plans to record sometime early next year. To be one of the first to hear said new songs, they'll be playing their hometown of Umeå at Klubb Ny Våg this Friday. In other news, check out their contribution to the Monks tribute comp "Silver Monk Time" on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/internationalnoiseconspiracy

The (International) Noise Conspiracy has posted a huge news update: http://www.internationalnoise.com/news.asp
Aside from a message to fellow Swedes about staying left, the band says they hope to record a new album before the end of the year which would mean a spring release.

Blender interviews Dennis and Inge from The (International) Noise Conspiracy about their musical influences: http://www.blender.com/video/818/InternationalNoiseConspiracyOurInfluences.video

MP3: The Vicious - It's all a lie

Got a new mp3 today from Umeå-based punk-rockers The Vicious from their latest 7" "Obsessive". If dig classic snotty singalong punk like Randy or Regulations (with whom they share a member) then you'll definitely love this too. A lot of times this sorta retro-sounding sound comes off as forced, but somehow the Scandinavian punks usually seem to pull it off. No detached irony, no snide winks; just 100% quality rock'n'roll. The other point of interest concerning The Vicious is that this is the new band of Sara Almgren from The (International) Noise Conspiracy. Sorry to those of you hoping that she'd return to her moshcore roots (she was in band Doughnuts way back when), but it looks like it ain't gonna happen. Yet. C'mon, isn't it about time someone started a Chokehold tribute band or something?

The Vicious - It's all a lie

MP3: The Hives - Main offender

Having mentioned The Hives in passing yesterday, I figure it's as good a time as any to to make them my Friday flashback post. I've only seen them once and it was on their first US tour supporting The (International) Noise Conspiracy. The band had already started to gather a decent amount of hype in the UK at that point, but were still mostly unknown in the States. A few radio stations had started to playlist them, but that's it. The crowd, outside of myself and a maybe a few other folks, were totally ignorant about the band. They were there for t(I)NC and never knew what hit 'em. All I know is that t(I)NC must've been majorly bummed that tour because I'm sure they got shown up each and every single night. No amount of mic twirling from Dennis could've saved things for them. The Hives ruled the night and, after that tour, everyone in the world knew it. So here's a live track from that era, recording live by Swedish Radio at the Brixton Academy in 2002.

The Hives - Main offender (live)

MP3: The (International) Noise Conspiracy - Only lovers left alive

It's Friday and I'm feeling sluggish, so that means it's time for yet another guestpost. Here's one from frequent contributor Matt Giordano:

"Only lover's left alive" hooked me into The (International) Noise Conspiracy's first (and I still think best) album. A perfect slice of pop, the track (and also the album) have the (I)NC at an upbeat 60s British soul/mod/punk sound. Not just a highlight of "Survival sickness," this was also a top track of 2001. Here's to hoping the Conspiracy returns to this sound aesthetic on their next album.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy - Only lovers left alive

Refused
Refused are fucking dead DVD
Burning Heart Records

"The 'Chinese Democracy' of punkrock". The statement in the press release from Burning Heart couldn't be more right. The waiting has been long and the expectations incredibly high. But the comparisons with the Axl Rose-monster stops there. While he seems to be more and more of a shadow of his former self, most Refused-members have great musical careers apart from the old band (Dennis in The (International) Noise Conspiracy, David in David Sandström Overdrive and Jon as Jon F. Kennedy [ed: and don't forget ex-bassist Magnus and Cobolt]). Lots of us grew up with Refused. We went to their gigs, bought every record and sought extrication from other punkbands often lousy records and live shows. When Refused got up on stage or went into the studio we knew magic would come out of it. And that's what makes it so hard to watch this DVD. Sure, the music and photography is brilliant and ex-guitarist Kristofer Steen has made this movie with love, I can tell; but the story about why the band broke up and the feelings evolving around that is never deeply penetrated. My feeling is that they are just scratching the surface. The band broke up during the USA-tour following the masterpiece "The shape of punk to come". All members get interviewed thoroughly and they're giving answers to some things never mentioned before, but when I watch "Refused are fucking dead" I can't help but think "I know this already, I know about the whole scenario. I want to get under their skins and really know how they felt about each other." That makes me wonder one other thing: who is this movie really made for? If you're like me, there's nothing new under the sun in these 38 minutes. And if you're someone who's just interested in what Refused was, the movie can seem a bit too self-centered, as if the filmmakers think it's obvious that people know who this band was. And believe me, as much as I'd like that everyone should know, not all people do know the Refused-story. The extra material is two videos ("New noise" and "Rather be dead") and live clips of every song featured on "The shape of punk to come". Oh, and speaking of liveclips; it's not ok to edit a livegig for a DVD-release. I happen to know for a fact that the samples in "New noise" weren't present during the Popstad-gig in the movie. It's not ok to pretend that everything's alright. At least we can take comfort in that no matter how much I dislike this DVD, "Chinese Democracy" will be even worse. Time will tell.
- Jonas Appelqvist

The (International) Noise Conspiracy will be embarking on a headlining tour of North America in May, mostly only playing in Canada:

05/19 - El Corazon, Seattle, WA
05/20 - The Plaza Club, Vancouver, BC
05/22 - The Warehouse, Calgary, AB
05/23 - Starlite Room, Edmonton, AB
05/24 - The Distrikt, Regina, SK
05/25 - Pyramid Cabaret, Winnipeg, MB
05/26 - Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN
05/27 - Beat Kitchen, Chicago, IL
05/29 - Call The Office, London, ON
05/30 - Reverb, Toronto, ON
05/31 - Babylon, Ottawa, ON
06/01 - L'Anti, Quebec City, PQ
06/02 - Cabaret Du Musee, Montreal, PQ
06/03 - Axis, Boston, MA
06/05 - CBGB, New York, NY

Support on every date except for NYC will come from The Fever.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy will play Australia in April:

04/05 - The Zoo, Brisbane
04/06 - Bar On The Hill, Newcastle
04/07 - Annandale Hotel, Sydney
04/08 - Annandale Hotel, Sydney
04/09 - The Corner, Melbourne
04/11 - Fowler's Live, Adelaide

New North American dates for The (International) Noise Conspiracy: http://www.internationalnoise.com/shows.asp

Those of who waiting for the US edition of The (International) Noise Conspiracy's newest album "Armed love" get a special live bonus disc if you buy it direct from the band on tour or at select stores. Said disc was recorded at the band's recent LA show at The Echo and features the following songs:

01. Black mask
02. Smash it up
03. A small demand
04. Capitalism stole my virgintiy
05. The way I feel about you

Inge has decided to leave Totalt Jävla Mörker so he can focus solely on The (International) Noise Conspiracy. Read his full statement: http://www.totaltjavlamorker.com/
In other TJM news, the band recently finished pre-production on their next album with 23 songs recorded. No word yet on when the actual album recording will take place, but four of the demo tracks will be used on a 2x7" split with Human Waste due out before the end of the year.

The (International) Noise Conspiracy will now be joining Turbonegro on their upcoming US tour (along with non-Scandinavians The Bravery). Updated dates:

10/04 - Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL
10/05 - Majestic Theatre, Detroit, MI
10/06 - The Rave, Milwaukee, WI
10/08 - Skoglund Athletic Center, Northfield, MN
10/09 - Regents Center, Decorah, IA
10/11 - Kool Haus, Toronto, ON
10/12 - Le Spectrum, Montreal, QC
10/13 - Avalon Ballroom, Boston, MA
10/14 - Avalon, Los Angeles, CA
10/15 - Henry Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
10/16 - House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
10/18 - The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
10/19 - Theater of the Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA

The lineup for the Iceland Airwaves festival in October has been announced: http://www.icelandairwaves.com/news.asp?newsID=59&pageID=14
Scandinavian artists include The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Annie and José González along with local Icelandic acts Nine Elevens, Ampop, Apparat Organ Quartet, Bang Gang, Brain Police, Deep Jimi, Dr. Discoshrimp, Dikta, Eberg, Forgotten Lores, Gus Gus, Hairdoctor, Hjálmar, Jagúar, Jan Mayen, Leaves, Kimono, Mínus, Rass, Sign, Ske, Vinyl and Without Gravity.