I always make an effort to check out the various Manifest Awards nominees because, inevitably, there's always at least a few quality names that have previously escaped my attention. I don't worry so much about who actually won or who was unfairly passed over, I just want new music. As for the punk category: I'm already a fan of Vånna Inget and happily grabbed a copy of their excellent LP via 1-2-3-4 Go! Records; Obnoxious Youth's stiff thrashy hardcore is not my thing at all, but kudos to them for winning; and I must confess, I don't know Black Feet at all, but that will be remedied eventually. Which leaves Sju Svåra År, a band that I've been aware of for awhile, but never fully investigated until very recently. Shame on me, because they are ruling female-fronted melodic punk, not too dissimilar from the aforementioned Vånna Inget or other acts like Masshysteri and The Vicious. So yeah, right up my alley -- especially when they combine exquisite vocal harmonies with raw grit like on tracks such as "Pappa". I may have neglected to track down a copy of their LP before now, but that will soon be remedied.
Swedish punks U.X. Vileheads (ex-DS-13, The Vicious, Regulations, etc.) will be releasing their second 7" EP via Danish label in the near future. The band's debut was released in Q409 via .
Travel day today - heading to Umeå from Malmö with a brief layover in Stockholm where I make the switch from rails to air. Enjoy a tune from one of Norrland's current best punkrock acts Masshysteri, the new, much-improved band that rose from the ashes of The Vicious. Looking forward to a Midsommar wedding in Umeå, I can't imagine it gets much better than this!
Danish label Hjernespind is working on new 7" releases from Danish punks Cola Freaks, War of Destruction (their first in 20! years) plus Umeå's Masshysteri, the band that rose from the ashes of The Vicious. There will also be a US press of that last one on Feral Ward.
The Vicious were pretty killer last night in Seattle, though I think that using Iron Lung's bass-heavy amps didn't suit their sound very well. Go see them, especially if you live in SF 'cuz Giant Haystacks rule:
04/25 - KBOO radio session (12pm) 04/25 - 53rd & SE Glisan, Portland, OR w/Defect Defect, Forced March, Autistic Youth 04/26 - The Know, Portland, OR w/Thought Patterns, Criminal Damage 04/27 - The Knockout, San Francisco, CA w/Signal Lost, Giant Haystacks (5-8pm) 04/27 - Thrillhouse Records, San Francisco w/Giant Haystacks (last show ever), Young Offenders, Surrender (8-10pm) 04/28 - The Clinic, Los Angeles, CA w/Diskonto, Doomsday Hour (5pm) 04/29 - Munoz Gym, Bakersfield, CA
Last night's playlist for my show on Sirius Blog Radio:
01. Isolation Years - Yellow cross on blue 02. TALK 1 03. Johndoe - Nattskift 04. Montys Loco - Wasteland 05. Once We Were - Cut corners 06. TALK 2 07. [ingenting] - Mycket vasen for ingenting 08. Margaret Berger - Robot song 09. Namur - Marching 10. Lampshade - New legs 11. TALK 3 12. Maia Hirasawa - Gothenburg 13. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet 14. Fattaru - 100:- 15. Juvelen - Hanna 16. TALK 4 17. Säkert! - Allt som är ditt 18. Sonores - 16th of June 19. Detektivbyrån - E18 20. TALK 5 21. At the Gates - The swarm 22. Barra Head - Kill the lights 23. TALK 6 24. The Tough Alliance - Leg 7 25. Torpedo - My evil twin 26. Alog - Catch that totem! 27. TALK 7 28. Valley Days - 10k angels 29. A-ha - Celice 30. Victims - Who the fuck are we? 31. TALK 8 32. The Vicious - Alienated 33. Viola - Unreal life 34. Zweizz - Nowadays the only boring everything is so frustrating 35. Viktor Sjöberg - Winter guitars 36. TALK 9 37. Closer - The talker 38. Aerial - My god, it's full of stars! 39. The Kissaway Trail - La la song 40. Laakso - Italy vs Helsinki 41. The Psyke Project - Panic 42. TALK 10 43. C.Aarmé - We are the world
Next week: expect lots more killer jams including totally a brand new track from Closer and maybe even a spotlight set on post-rock/ambient music. Good times!
Havoc has updated with news on new releases from Kvoteringen, Wolfbrigade and Regulations as well as US tourdates for the latter two plus The Vicious and Skitsystem: http://www.havocrex.com/
Ny Våg reports that Knugen Faller's new album "Lugna favoriter" is done and set for a late November release. Also on the way is The Vicious' new album "Alienated" which should be out in mid-November. Further in the future look for new 7" releases from Randy sideproject Stefan and the Problematix (this was supposed to be out years ago) and The Most, a "super retro mod band from Umeå." Samples of the latter here: http://www.myspace.com/themostsweden
Ny Våg just posted a big update on various things they have going on including new releases from The Vicious and Knugen Faller and talk of North American and Australian tours for Regulations: http://www.nyvag.com/
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?
Check out a video of The Vicious playing live at Scharinska Villan in Umeå: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9-_gFxoqjo The audio is a bit rough, but the picture quality ain't bad.
Some news from Ny Våg: The European version of Regulations excellent "Electric guitar" record is just about done and will be released both as a 7-song 12" and on CD with the bonus 7" tracks (as included on the US version on Havoc). The vinyl version comes with a poster and will also feature an updated layout. Look for the band to tour Europe in May. Ny Våg also reports that Lost Patrol Band (the all-star power-pop act that began life as Dennis Lyxen's sensitive singer/songwriter project) is done with their second album and will be building up to its release with a 7" single called "Automatic kids" coming out sometime before summer. Organist Jonas Lidström has also reportedly left the band, but they will continue on as a four-piece. And lastly, the CD version of the The Vicious 12" has been delayed, but will be out soon and will include the band's first 7" as bonus-tracks. In other Vicious news, a new four-song 7" will be out on US label Feral Ward soon and a new full-length is in the works for the end of the year.