MP3: The End Will Be Kicks - Exit ramps

So I busted out The End Will Be Kick's 2005 self-titled debut not too long ago after letting it collect dust on my shelf for way too long and was glad to discover that age had not dwindled its greatness, not even in the slightest. Real talk: Guitarist Niklas Quintana's career with the acts Him Kerosene and Breach would have been more than enough to seal his legacy; his work with the supremely underappreciated TEWBK was the victory lap you didn't know you needed (you do). As far as I'm concerned, dude can now rest on his laurels and enjoy being a dad and a regular citizen without recording another note because, even if far few people listen to his records, his body of work still towers over the rest of the Swedish indie scene now and forevermore.

The End Will Be Kicks - Exit ramps

Aerial
Put it this way in headlines
Nomethod

There are few opening tracks that spark so perfectly to life, coloring not only the album to follow, but drawing the listener into this creative work, as the aptly titled "First of all...". While the following track does dampen the energy momentarily, from that point on "Put it this way in headlines" unravels as an impressive addition to Aerial's catalogue. The heavier, Mogwai/Mono-inspired post-rock of "The sentinel" has been replaced by a much cleaner, almost pop-like approach -- imagine a strange amalgamation of The End Will Be Kicks and Yamon Yamon. The only serious failing of "Headlines" is that the band, after embracing a change to their sound, sometimes takes too long to hit all the right notes, and then doesn't hit those notes quite hard enough. "Zebra" should have been anthemic, but only briefly reaches that point in the closing minute of the song; it's still a damn fine track, I am just not sure why the building energy suddenly stops. A few more songs like "Vacant dreamers", a track that blurs the line between post-rock and angular garage rock, might have helped as well, though said track suffers in a similar way to "Zebra": these songs seem to be building somewhere, but they never get there; this was never a problem on "The sentinel". That said, with "Guitar ode to a sunny afternoon" and all the other gorgeous moments on the album, there is more than enough to "Headlines" to make Aerial's present and future look quite bright.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Sirius playlist week #32

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. TALK 1
02. Elias and the Wizzkids - Mr. Right Guy
03. Marit Bergman - Thoughts grow darker in the night
04. Jomi Massage - I see those who died
05. The End Will Be Kicks - Luleå Los Angeles La Paz
06. TALK 1
07. Viola - Shimmery summary (sha-la-la-love)
08. The Bear Quartet - Sailors
09. [ingenting] - Halleluja!
10. TALK 2
11. Erik de Vahl - Got it all
12. The Scrags - Twist at the graveyard
13. Trapdoor Fucking Exit - DOA
14. Iisole - The words
15. TALK 4
16. Death By Kite - Scared of heights
17. Sonic Ritual - Take the edge off
18. Mainliners - Olivia
19. Ted Gärdestad - Räcker jag till
20. TALK 5
21. Darkthrone - Hiking metal punks

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.

Sirius playlist week #26

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. Miss Li - Dancing the whole way home
02. TALK 1
03. Graveless - The covenants genocide
04. Abramis Brama - Kylan kommer inifran
05. NEI - City of gold
06. TALK 2
07. Love Potion - Nitefever
08. Pistol Disco - Beat of the tune
09. Black Sheep - We're gonna die
10. The End Will Be Kicks - Little pill
11. TALK 3
12. Tribulation - Crypt of Thanatophilia
13. Makabert Fynd - Folkfacist, halvnazist
14. Bruket - Polisen lägger pussel
15. TALK 4
16. The Bear Quartet - I was a weapon
17. Mangrove - Pieces of our yesterday
18. Elmo - Shine down on us
19. TALK 5
20. Aqua - Back to the 80s

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.

The End Will Be Kicks - Little pill

Swedish noiserockers The End Will Be Kicks have another brand new song available for free download called "Little pill": http://theendwillbekicks.com/download
Sounds great, as always.

Sirius playlist week #23

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. Pintandwefall - Jail
02. TALK 1
03. Detektivbyrån - Partyland
04. Carolina Wallin Pérez - Pärlor
05. Piroth - Fog dancers
06. TALK 2
07. Sonic Ritual - Take the edge off
08. Lapko - Miami vicer
09. My God Damn Territory - Used to be
10. The End Will Be Kicks - Sweets & filth
11. TALK 3
12. Murmansk - Behind kitchen knives
13. Gösta Berlings Saga - Bergslagen
14. TALK 4
15. Folke - Wet soap
16. The Goner - A song
17. Regina - Totuus minusta
18. TALK 5
19. Lowood - Crash

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.

The End Will Be Kicks - Luleå Los Angeles La Paz

Swedish noiserockers par excellence The End Will Be Kicks have a brand new track called "Luleå Los Angeles La Paz" available for free download/streaming: http://theendwillbekicks.com/

Sirius playlist week #19

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:

01. Penny Century - Just because (feat. Mattias Alkberg)
02. TALK 1
03. Piroth - Fog dancers
04. Shogun Kunitoki - Riddarholmen
05. Elenette - Start; alla program; spel
06. TALK 2
07. The End Will Be Kicks - Sweets and filth
08. Viola - Nobodylovers
09. Pan Sonic - Maa
10. Antifilm - Here comes the son
11. TALK 3
12. Ingenting - Slapp in solen
13. Pixie Carnation - Fresh poems
14. David Åhlén - Spirit fall
15. TALK 4
16. The Fine Arts Showcase - The teenage order
17. Pinto - We breathe too much
18. The Opium Cartel - Better days ahead
19. Dag för Dag - I am the assassin
20. TALK 5
21. Aerial - All refrain

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.

The End Will Be Kicks have new website, new song

The End Will Be Kicks have a new website and are streaming a new song called "Sweets and filth": http://theendwillbekicks.com/

MP3: Convoj - Liberty City

Tomorrow at Debaser Malmö: It's a Trap! Clubnight featuring Convoj and Pretty Whores! I shouldn't have to remind you how great Convoj are since I've been talking them up from the very beginning, but I've got an mp3 below just in case you remain ignorant. Those guys are easily one of the best acts keeping the classic Swedish indie/noiserock/post-hardcore/post-punk sound alive. Few others compete; I can count them on one hand: NEI, The End Will Be Kicks, Giant Boar, Voices Break the Silence. Am I missing anyone? You might be able to lump Aerial in there once their new album comes out, but that's about it. Anyhow, point being: great band, not to be missed.
As for Pretty Whores, I haven't heard their new EP yet, but it seems to be getting good reviews and I most certainly approve of their shortened name (minus "Of Manhattan"). I think they'd be better off dropping it altogether and starting fresh, but whatever -- they're young dudes, they'll figure it out.

Convoj - Liberty City

Culkin
Demo
self-released

The evidence of members of KVLR in Culkin is obvious as "Pay per fist" bursts alive in a chaotic display of Scandinavian indierock. And, as with many outstanding records, the lo-fi production adds a wonderfully human element to the compositions. This demo release almost perfectly encapsulates what has been left out of many of the recent advances into the rock genre: thick, jangled guitar lines blurring over one another to form a wall of melody; vocal lines that don't attempt to set themselves above the instrumental fray, but impose themselves directly into this skirmish; an undulating framework that allows the compositions to easily, seamlessly shift between bouts of melancholy into sections of outright triumph. Imagine elements of shoegaze and post-rock, a healthy study of 90s acts like Sonic Youth, and an outright appreciation for the Scandinavian bands who helped reshape this bastard brand of indierock (see: The End Will Be Kicks) and you get a pretty good idea of what Culkin's all about. If this demo is any indication of what's in store, Culkin have quite a future in front of them -- one that I'll be watching very closely.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Division of Laura Lee
Violence is timeless
I Made This

After a short, eccentric choice for an opener ("Caress/Hotnights", a track that would not have been out of place on Nirvana's "Incesticide"), "Violence is timeless" continues to bristle alive with "LAX". Combining the youthful energy of garage and punk with the sensibility of indie rock, "LAX" is a dark track that effortlessly exudes a sense of 'cool' that has been lacking from much of the contemporary scene, most likely because it feels a little more aligned with the energetic efforts of Iggy Pop than more recent efforts to combine early punk with the trendy indie movement. From the opening two tracks, the album continues to show the development of Division of Laura Lee. The title track continues to expound the album's darker tendencies, driving onwards with the purpose of bands like Convoj and The End Will Be Kicks. The lyrics from which the album derives its title -- "It makes sense to die young, back where I come from violence is timeless" -- perfectly exemplify the strange balance between cynicism, melancholy and passion that the band successfully marries. Tracks like "Anytime" and especially "3 guitars", my favorite track on the record, show the influence that artists like Sonic Youth and Pavement continue to have on contemporary music. The ending track, "Do you love me", a fantastic homage to Fugazi's "Do you like me", ends the album on a strange note similarly to how it opened, and it shouldn't be any other way. "Violence is timeless" is an exceptional album, one that reminds us of the soundtracks that led us here, that continue to push us forward.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Premonition Records (The End Will Be Kicks) will be releasing a new 8-track CD from Umeå act BillyEd in the near future. Hear samples: http://www.myspace.com/billyedmusic

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Peter Morén - This is what I came for
02. TALK 1
03. Entombed - Hollowman
04. King Of All The Animals - Concrete skyline
05. Jettie - The lay up
06. TALK 2
07. Happy Trash Culture - Frisky pet
08. Josse - You had a plan
09. Ondo - Sleep
10. TALK 3
11. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - This room seems empty without you
12. Håkan Hellström - För sent för edelweiss
13. Marvins Revolt - Deliberate deeds
14. Marybell Katastrophy - Hey Frank
15. TALK 4
16. The Bear Quartet - Mvh contempt
17. Lögnhalsmottagningen - Snacka gär ju
18. Ghost Brigade - Based on you
19. TALK 5
20. September Malevolence - I shut doors and windows
21. The End Will Be Kicks - Ass of a friend
22. Anna Leong - Battered, bruised and cold
23. TALK 6
24. Bright Oak - On the list
25. Tape - Moth wings
26. Axewitch - Hot lady
27. TALK 7
28. Nationalteatern - Jack the Ripper
29. Tsukimono - Heart beater
30. Zeigeist - Bunny
31. TALK 8
32. First Floor Power - The jacket (Karin Dreijer remix)
33. No Hope for the Kids - Angels of destruction
34. Docenterna - Popmusik
35. Vapnet - Skorpan
36. TALK 9
37. Björn Kleinhenz - Olis
38. Fireside - Ambulance
39. Looptroop Rockers - Living on a prayer
40. TALK 10

Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:

01. Disfear - Deadweight
02. TALK 1
03. The Social Services - Up in arms
04. Kaka - The hotspurs (the less know the faster we go)
05. The Je Ne Sais Quoi - Manic panic
06. TALK 2
07. Tiger Lou - Patterns
08. Paper - My life is going under
09. Dreamboy - Stars
10. TALK 3
11. Lack - Watchmen
12. Don't Be A Stranger - Mon chi-chi
13. Ea Philippa - Heslenes sang
14. TALK 4
15. Ef - Thrills
16. Isolation Years - Yellow cross on blue
17. Frivolvol - Satellite kids
18. TALK 5
19. Enslaved - Eld
20. The Grand Opening - Secrets revealed
21. Ultralyd - Comphonie V
22. TALK 8
23. Firefok AK - Techno tears
24. The Indecision Alarm - Alienation process
25. Looptroop Rockers - Marinate
26. TALK 7
27. Markus Krunegård - Jag är en vampyr
28. The End Will Be Kicks - Exit ramps
29. Cadillac - Locomotive
30. TALK 8
31. Lukestar - Lake Toba
32. Commando M Pigg - Baby doll
33. Printer - Minds out
34. TALK 9
35. Seven Feet Four - Auto emotion
36. Tobias Hellkvist - Abomination
37. Barra Head - Undermine
38. TALK 10
39. Britta Persson - Happy hour
40. Anna Leong - Guillotine
41. Ted Gärdestad - Can't stop this train
42. TALK 11