We’ve reviewed several albums, EPs, and 7“s from the Swedish band Kevlar, and still it was a surprise to me to hear the band’s third full-length. Perhaps being forced to change its name by a certain corporation and finding a new bass player was just what this four-piece needed, because as good as previous Kevlar recordings were, this album clearly is the band’s best to date, and it may just be the best thing I’ve yet to hear coming out of Sweden. (Take that, Hives!)
Essentially, KVLR is still playing high-energy rock, driven by powerful guitar chords and Johan Sellman’s uniquely low-pitched vocals. But on this album, the band took the approach of keeping things simple and recording live as much as possible. It certainly worked for this band, because this album is full of energy, extremely fun, and still remarkably tight and precise.
A ridiculously catchy power-chord starts off the album on “Last Rhyme,” and kicks things off nicely. And it’s a nice lead-in to the more mid-tempo, jangly “Fed on the Hook,” which has perhaps the album’s most catchy chorus. “Slow Clapping” is suitably named due to its repetitive but catchy rhythm, and the perfect mid-tempo “The Red Bulletin” makes me want to repeat the song numerous times. Surprisingly, “Road Closure” is almost mellow, with enough jangle and light, chiming quality to make me smile.
The band does show off its heavier side on tracks like the pounding, relentless, yet always under-control “Spit.” The opening to “Traitors and Thieves” reminds me of my favorite style of mid-90s rock, but the song definitely takes things in a more modern and powerful direction. Again, I hear that mid-90s vibe on “Birthcam,” and the female vocals (courtesy of Lena Karlsson from Komeda) are a nice touch. The closing “What’s Left Belongs to No One” gets darker, a bit more aggressive without losing the band’s deft touch.
Somehow, this KVLR album reminds me of Archers of Loaf. Both bands have the ability to make their music seem simple and yet extremely tight and catchy. KVLR really surprised me on this release, because while I always expect good things from this Swedish outfit, I wasn’t expecting to like the latest offering this much. It’s definitely one of my favorite rock albums of the year.
-Jeff Marsh
Forget financial misinformation, environmental damage and the exploitation of child labor. Multinational corporations are involved in another, far more heartless practice: forcing indie bands to change their names. In 2002, emerging Swedish band Kevlar were threatened with legal action by the DuPont corporation, manufacturers of Kevlar fibre technology, forcing them to alter their moniker to the vowel-less, virtually unpronounceable KVLR. Undaunted, KVLR have returned with an extremely accomplished album. If that isn't the perfect basis for a Michael Moore/Disney collaboration, I don't know what is.
KVLR erupts with a rollicking melodic dissonance reminiscent of Mission Of Burma, Sonic Youth and Swervedriver, immediately betraying the band's '80s/'90s American indie-rock influences. Layered guitars screech and wail, and distorted basslines rumble, all anchored by Magnus Oberg's steadily upbeat drumming. It's not unusual to see Scandinavian artists reinventing the American rock canon, but it's rare to see their work extend beyond mere homage. Thus, even though KVLR's intentions are far from innovative, their Absolut-fueled melodic noise explosions are genuinely inspired.
The dissonant atmospherics unveil more hooks than a fisherman's toolbox, from opener "Last Rhyme"'s bouncing guitar bursts to "Fed On The Hook"'s echoing harmonies. The album's highlight, however, is the epic "Slow Clapping", in which the group's penchant for noise and melody coagulates into a mesmerizing whole. While frontman Johan Sellman's opening line ("Slow clapping for a death rattle / Heckles never end") pegs life as a hopeless gig, the song's instrumentation is earnestly, vehemently uplifting. Beginning with a restrained drumline that gradually ushers in acoustic strums and lingering electric notes, it eventually explodes into an anthemic experience. Ethereal harmonies float at the high end of the mix, heavy bass propels the atmospheric noise toward rhythmic urgency, and Sellman's emotional delivery ignites a sing-along chorus. It's a fist-pumping feast of Dischord proportions.
Surprisingly for a band so concerned with noise dynamics, KVLR never succumb to melodic aloofness. Like the strong yet flexible product that bore their original band name, they've forced opposing elements to coexist. By underscoring harsh distortion bursts with lilting harmonies and propelling basslines, they've crafted a sonorous yet accessible sound that effectively balances the dual spheres of melody and noise. It's obviously not a recent innovation, but only an asshole would sneer at a band that handles the balance so well.
-Rob Moran
Postpunk as a style, rather than a timeframe, is best heard and recognized rather than described. That said, KVLR (formally Kevlar) should be in the music dictionary in place of a definition of postpunk. The quartet recalls the glory days of Gang of Four, Wire, Mission of Burma and even Sonic Youth with infectious enthusiasm and subtle melodicism. Plus KVLR is Swedish and has that magic Nordic pixie dust with which every other band from the region seems to be sprinkled.
-Michael Toland
4 stars
Sweden's KVLR offer up a dizzying third album with this ten-track disc. With new bassist Joel Borg joining the ranks, the band found new inspiration. Johan Sellman remains on lead vocals and guitar, while drummer Magnus Öberg and guitarist Ludwig Franzen round out the quartet. The band's admitted influence by bands like Chavez, Swervedriver, Sonic Youth shine through, as the foursome embraces dynamic guitar and feedback, showcasing an uncanny cohesiveness from beginning to end. Opening with the churning frenzy of ""Last Rhyme," the band maintains a blistering pace through most of the disc. ""Fed on the Hook" is, as advertised, full of the kind of addictive pop hooks that fed the indie rock scene in the late 1980s and early/mid 1990s. ""Traitors & Thieves" combines the band's melodic and churning ways beautifully, resulting in an impressive fiery sound. The album closes out with the sound collage of ""Whitewash" and the toned down brooding of ""What's Left Belongs to No One," which evolves into a swirling choir of crashing drums and repetitive guitar by song's end. By the end of the disc, the band's dramatic growth spurt on this album makes it all the more impressive. Komeda's Lena Karlsson produced the disc, and provides guest vocals on the rollicking ""Slow Clapping" and ""Birthcam," one of the album's brightest anthems. It's A Trap Records released the disc in March 2004. ~ Stephen Cramer, All Music Guide
If the band name looks familiar that's because it probably is. This is the Swedish band formerly known as Kevlar - forced to change their name by DuPont for legal reasons or some such nonsense. This is a bit different than what I've heard from the band in the past. It's still got an indie rock sort of thing going on, but leaning more towards actual atypical rock (think Dinosaur Jr.'s calmer/darker moments with far better singing and way less distortion - I'd also make some musical comparisons to Interpol as well). Most songs run less than three or four minutes, but a few stretch past five or even nine. The song structures are perhaps more simplistic than some of the band's older material, but I would say they're employing a hell of a lot more layering and subtle complexity here. There are tons of layered vocal harmonies going on in the distance, the guitars are hard panned and often work together with the bass and drums without doubling their parts, etc. "Spit" is a bit more caustic and abrasive, while "The Red Bulletin" is somewhat darker and more minimal, and "What's Left Belongs to No One" closes at nearly 10 minutes of the most somber and unique piece on the disc. There definitely tends to always be a nearly constant emphasis on a driving sense of rhythm, no matter what the overall tone of the particular song. I love the recording. Everything is nice and warm with a really dry, natural sound. It's not totally clear all the time, but there is a lot of detail in each individual tone, and they blend together very nicely with no gaps whatsoever. The percussion and vocals are deep in with the guitars and bass, no one element dominates or leans too far towards the front. The CD comes in a nice digipack with simple high contrast artwork of a stylized face and a similar image of the band underneath the CD. The only colors used are black and dark red, with lots of blank white space tastefully employed. Unfortunately no lyrics are included, and many of the song titles could be suggestive of several angles ("Fed on a Hook", "Traitors and Thieves", etc.). Very cool. I'm glad to have heard this, and would recommend it for those looking for something curious and generally pretty calm. Good work.
Filter Grade: 84%
Sometimes you think the revolution's gonna come real damn soon. Sometimes guitars sound like walls collapsing and bass feels like a glorious seratonin overload. Sometimes, if you're really lucky, you find a little something that that makes you feel that "sometimes" all of the time. Welcome to the world of KVLR, a Scandinavian band who play wall-of-sound-rock with the kind of energy that knocks around in your head until you pass out from sheer exhaustion. The drums on the single ("Slow Clapping") pound like a factory line, and the chorus is a maelstrom of pop purity as backing vocals bend and shift into a My Bloody Valentine-like state of reverie. This is KVLR's third album, and on it, they make no qualms in paying direct reference to their influences. Singer Johan Sellman invokes the strangled caress of Husker Dù with his piercing pleas of love in "Last Rhyme," whilst the band chugs along melodically with all the passion of Sonic Youth de-tuning cellos. KVLR are close to mastering the fine art of mixing the abrasive with the fragile. "Red Traitor" and "Birthcam" are glacial in scale and pneumatic in impact, filled with Gothic insecurity and romance, pummelled with shards of industrial guitar and disco beats. By recording most of their material live, KVLR allow the spatial arrangements of post-rock to infiltrate the energy of post-punk and the textural beauty of shoegazing. The end result is a strong amalgam of some of the best music that can be made with guitars.
To the arms brokerage that made this astounding band of Swedenites change their name from Kevlar to KVLR just to save some product's respectability… get a grip! You sell bulletproof armor coatings and shit… why not have a band that rocks be your goddamn spokesperson? What could be better than that, rock-n-roll of the future to sell the armor of the future?
Lodged firmly between Cursive's "Domestica" and Sonic Youth's "Daydream Nation", Sweden's KVLR has crossed the ocean like a speeding bullet, embedding itself firmly and semi-lethally in your head. Not one bit afraid of a little noise, but also not adverse to a little melody, this band of four fellows really know how to cut loose in any language…
The album kicks off gangbusters with the driving opener "Last Rhyme", with its homage to the gods of the Teenage Riot. Switching gears almost completely with the amazing anthem "Slow Clapping", complete with the very talented vocal styling of Lena Karlsson from Komeda, KVLR's third full length is so full of so many different forms of rock that you would think this is a "best of" record. Add to that several tracks with heavily trashed out drum tracks and crazy noisy guitars, and I am completely sold on this band, no matter where they're from. At least I definitely know where they're going… my CD player.
KVLR from Umeå made three rules before they started on their latest, self-titled album. It was going to be simple, as live as possible and include songs that were fun to record and listen to.
KVLR is made up by Johan, Joel, Magnus and Ludwig. They had a hectic 2003. They toured Europe and the US, they also had to change their name because a multinational company was about to sue them. On top of that, they recorded a new album.
So when I when I listen to the album I can't help to think that this isn't simple, it's pretty advanced. KVLR has evolved in the right direction and grown as a band. The melody and the energy is in focus. The record starts with a few seconds of noise that transforms into the first track, Last Rhyme. Last Rhyme is a pop song, in true Fireside sprit, and you can already tell that KVLR is on the right track. The brilliant start never ends, it just goes on with Fed on the Hook and the single Slow Clapping. The best track of the album is the beautiful song Spit, and that is only a big chaos of noise… Yes, chaos! The energy sparkles and Spit is probably the most fun song for the band to play. Traitors and Thieves is yet another highlight, and KVLR shows that they have talent when it comes to lyrics too.
KVLR is an album with lots of surprises, one of the most honest albums of the year and I hope we get to see KVLR at some of the summer festivals.
It's isn't a real KVLR-album if their isn't at least one song that sticks out, alarms and makes so much noise that the stereo keels over.
On this album the song is called Spit and from time to time I can't listen to it. Even if I can't stand the song it feels liberating that the band from Umeå still insists on musical endeavours like that. It shows that KVLR don't care about the commercial aspects at all. I believe that the surge in Spit was a well needed alibi, because the rest of the nine tracks, is by KVLR-standards, well groomed. I don't mind at all. Even if the members of KVLR always have dealt with their instruments with precision, it isn't until recent they have started to show the musical maturity I've been longing for.
The predecessor, The Great Collapse, was a big step in the right direction and with this self-titled album has KVLR, not only, "found home" but also accomplished their biggest moment in their career.
What I call maturity is nothing but trusting the melodies and thereafter building the arrangements around them. The single Slow Clapping, with Lena Karlsson doing the backup singing, is an example of this. The danceable Last Rhyme is another. Fed on the Hook, with cool acoustic guitars, is a third. And I could go on!
Should we place this album in some sort of relation with others, the usual comparison to Sonic Youth and Archers of Loaf still works, but in my book KVLR easily fills the void that Starmarket left us with.
I honestly hope that KVLR gets the attention that they deserve, because this isn't just good - it's awesome.
KVLR from Umeå, formerly know as Kevlar but forced to change their name last year, released their first album back in 1999. They have never really made at home in Sweden but they are an established band in the US and Europe. Now the quartet is back with their third album, the self-titled KVLR.
During the recording of the new album last year, KVLR had been touring Europe and the US. They have also gotten a new base player, Joel Borg, that seems to have given the other members Johan Sellman, vocals and guitar, Ludwig Franzen, guitar and vocals, and the drummer Magnus Öberg a push forward.
The self-titled album KVLR is a very animated and powerful album where the band glows and really delivers their music in a convincing way. Sellman, as a singer is convincing and the songs are strong and varied all thru the 10 tracks. The varied and exciting arrangements help lift the songs a bit extra, too.
The production was created in KVLR's hometown Umeå, where they recorded in the Tonteknik studio with Magnus Lindberg and mixed by Henrik Oja at Second Home. Lena Karlsson and Marcus Karlsson from Komeda have been involved as producers for the song Slow Clapping, the first single. Lena also sings on the song Birthcam.
KVLR first appeared under the name of Kevlar back in 1999 when they release the album 'Let Me Worry Some More' on the American label TFT Rec/Southern. The follow up album 'The Great Collapse' was released in 2002 by Germany's Stickman Records and it was more acknowledged here in Sweden. After that, tours in Europe and the US followed. They appeared at the South By Southwest fair in Austin.
With their new powerful album that is released by Stickman via Border Music in Sweden, KVLR can most likely find new fans among the Swedish indierockers. KVLR is an album that grows and contains a good deal of interesting ideas and perspectives.
Kevlar reach what other bands hardly ever do: They grow musically, with each record they release.
While I was thoroughly impressed with "The Great Collapse", the self-titled successor manages to do the same. KVLR manage to write fascinating music even without vocals. Not unlike their fellow countrymen Starmarket, yet their music is 3 times more intensive and make music that shows it's strengths only after listening to it a couple of times. It opens with the easy to digest "Last rhyme", a fluffy rock number, that offers a number of surprises in the chorus we've grown accustomed to. Surprises being the key word, as the 5 Swedes write melodies that aren't predictable, with Miss Karlsson making sure of that on her keyboard. "Slow clapping" will be the first single of the album. With this song, it sounds like there's an entire choir singing the chorus. But by that time you're already within this band's grasp. And it's this musical unpredictability that makes this album a highlight. But not only that. Adding to this is the bands intensity and the fact that you discover more and more with each listening. "Spit" is a noise-rock number, on which guitars are cruelly punished. But there are different styles, too. Songs like "The red bulletin" or "Traitors and thieves" are more laid back. With those tracks, the guitars are quieter, with more focus on the bass. The album finishes with "What's left belongs to no-one", a track almost 10 minutes in length and quite nicely arranged. A true pop hymn, which justifies the crown sitting on the head of this album.
KVLR was always a thrilling sensation seen live, as they also understand how to offer the intensity on stage as they do off-stage. And with this self-titled tour de force, KVLR prove once again that they are an exception amongst other bands. Rarely is music so much fun as with this album. And the good thing is that KVLR are quite their own. And just fantastic.
Raider is now called Twix - otherwise nothing has changed, and Kevlar call themselves KVLR now - with the only difference being that a lot has changed with them. For instance the obvious name change, a change forced by a company. The bass player has been changed, too. Musically however, everything has stayed the same with these Swedes, only this third album "KVLR" sounding a bit more compact.
But appearances deceive, upon second listening KVLR show a hitherto unknown diversity compared to their 2002 album "The Great Collapse". The reason? The often-heard background singing of Lena Karlsson make the quartet sound much more harmonious than before. "KVLR" proves the great evolution of a promising band that hits their target without following any trends.
"KVLR" is the third album of the hard-working indie rockband from Umeå, Sweden, and possesses about three times as much energy and imagination as most other epigones following in the footsteps of Sonic Youth, Fugazi or Hüsker Dü. With a fine sensitivity towards creating music that makes you feel happy, they have put together 10 highly melodic and complex songs that make you want to listen to them and hum all day. Thankfully, everything is right here: the individual mixture of aggressiveness and melancholy, the immensity and fragility, noise and tranquillity. For the fact that almost all songs were recorded live in the studio, they are still arranged quite sensibly and clever. Adding to that the great backing vocals of Lena Karlsson (Komeda), who helped produce the album, for example in "Birthcam", it begs the question as to why this album shouldn't be a huge hit. It is, in any case, the best that KVLR have provided till now, and that's saying something. Highly recommended for the first days of spring.
The band formerly known as Kevlar is back. After their run-ins with the law, having been robbed of two vowels, it seems like KVLR put all their energy into this album. The Scandinavians do everything right on their fourth album. This is how exceptional indierock should sound in the new millennium. These Swedes do that without the hip "The" in front of the name. Actually, they're only continuing what started with "The Great Collapse", and that which was hinted with the predecessor band Starmarket. Great melodies strike noise and are enriched with Lena Karlsson's playful keyboard sounds. The whole thing obviously follows American icons like The Pixies or Sonic Youth. With the almost 10-minute long "What's Next Belongs To No One", KVLR have a veritable hymn, which sounds exciting even after listening to it for the twentieth time. In fact, this album convinces in its diversity. From the clear-cut noise-rock piece "Spit" to the relaxed-rocking opener "Last Rhyme", you get a bit of everything. You won't be bored, that's for sure.
The third track, which is also the single, "Slow Clapping" has a great sound and a awesome intro. Right after that song comes "Spit" that previously sounded like chaos in my stereo. Now I understand why, and with the 'real sound' this is a cool and hard song and is without a doubt the hardest and easiest to play live-song on the record. Pedal to the metal. It's great that people dare to 'flip out' like they do.
To see the guys in the band on stage had been a great experience. KVLR travels between hard tracks to soft(er) tracks where they let the song come through. Good indie-rock. The best track on the record is "Traitors and Thieves". Brilliant!
The record starts of pretty slow and the music carries you in, unexpectedly, towards smooth and ideal melodies. Influences and resemblances spin around in a broad, but yet compact and benevolent world while song after song passes by. It's no easy record to get through if you thing of its split attitude, when it switches between calm and melancholic Fireside, and fiery Sonic Youth á la Fugazi. Pretty soon you realize that you have to divide the album into two so you don't have to worry about it jumping genres on you.
At first you are met by a calm and withdrawn track where the tempo is keyed down. You are reminded of how splendid Fireside really were in the beginning of their carrier when for the first time saw the video "Kilotin" from the album "Do Not Tailgate", in they today classic movie Edge. It's been some time since then, but that moment has been etched forever just like the skate scene where "Something Against You" with Pixies is being played. You where flushed back every time just cause it was so good and you could memorize the scenes after the impact the songs had. The same thing happens here. Remembrance is formed and songs like "Last Rhyme", "Fed On The Hook" and "Road Closure" appeals very much to me.
You are drawn to an area somewhere between the trivial genre labels of rock and indie. But soon you find yourself in the mitts of the hectic and intense songs that brings Sonic Youth and Fugazi to mind, not only because of the "noise post rock" but also because of KVLRs singers, Johan Sellman, voice. It's close to sound identical in some parts of "Split", but since KVLRs own charisma and character glows through you forget all about it. Something else your not allowed to forget is that it's not only monumental and talented melodies but that they also show a great talent when it comes to their lyrics. In particular "Traitors and Thieves".
The self titled "debut" album under the new name KVLR, is a strong collection of energy and melodies. They have moved in the right direction and they managed to reach the goals and keep to the guidelines they made before recording the album. It was going to be a simple, sounds "as live as possible" and be as much fun to listen to as to play. The Umeå band KVLR is on the right track and for the moment more fascinating than Kristoffer Åström and his Fireside.
When Trästockfestivalen started in the early 1990s, Dinosaur Jr was one of the organizers big dream bands.
Today, 2004, the groups' front man, J Mascis, an artist with a huge amount of "cred", still serves as a big inspirational source.
Just look at these two new albums.
The Umeå band KVLR varies more than Last Days of April.
Pretty often KVLR feels crude relative to "If you lose it" that is more polished.
Even if you can associate to Dinosaur Jr's classic "Freak Scene" when hearing KVLR, but KVLR has a pretty big variety of on their "themes" and you can easily find influences from Fireside and Starmarket to Buffalo Tom and Archers of Loaf as well. Epic "Slow Clapping" is the albums climax.
Last Days of April is a bit less harsh, a bit calmer and often presents a nice harmony between the guitars. Highlights are "Tears on Hold" and the straight, up-tempo "Do for Two".
They almost disappeared in a maelstrom of fate. An international company sues for trademark infringement and suddenly, the band name has lost it's vowels. But the band don't let themselves get irritated, they play fantastic live gigs in Europe and many parts of the US, and collect lots of new ideas for songs. And here they are, like new-borns, ridding themselves of any potential hang-ups. They even seem to be freed from all the hype surrounding emo.
What KVLR is celebrating on their self-titled re-initiation can be called premier league rock. The Swedes from Umea can be counted as winners, not least with the memorable vocals. Polished Songwriting, although not skint on walls of guitars, yet still full of song harmony and catchy melodies. While you have air guitars swirling around the room in one moment, you want to close your eyes in the next, let yourself drift with the music, in icy-cold swedish forest lakes, always repeating the last sentence of the disc: "all that we have is a sense of certainty...". KVLR brings up memories of the similarily great Starmarket, maybe also a bit of Blackmail. Yet name-dropping doesn't help much to describe the band that created something wonderful. And with "Slow Clapping", the first single, people will realize many more top-class coming from the Motorpsycho label.
It would be best to save on the superlatives, who knows what else is coming after the ten songs on this album. What is clear, however, is that this band is producing excellent rock, possessing enough autonomy to be indulged as such.
KVLR to me have always been something like the younger evil brother of their just as beloved as chronically underestimated countrymen of Starmarket. However, while they polished their post-punkrock with sweet melodies, the gents from Umeå really go off again on their third LP. Without fear of atonal melodies or boring vocals, the ten new compositions impressively show off the signature band sound - reason enough to put out a new disc after replacing the bass player and being forced to a name-change.
Especially for the uniqueness and "Dischord" being the only valid comparisons to be made. Already the beautiful artwork comes across very dark, the dirt only starts getting removed after having heard the songs a couple of times. For instance, the enchanting voice of Lena Karlsson (KOMEDA) can be found yet again on the wonderful "Birthcam". And yet the Swedes remain unwieldy and stubborn, with the noisiness of "Spit" surpassing their works under their previous KEVLAR moniker. In contrast, the lulling last dance "What's left belongs to no-one" is almost conciliatory. KVLR offer a very demanding but very worthwhile act, which for me marks the first Indie-Rock highlight of this year.
More:
http://mush04.free.fr/site/chroniques/kvlr_eng.html
http://www.ltz.se/artikel_standard.php?id=149113&avdelning_1=124&avdelning_2=161
http://www.twee.nu/andthesound/recensioner.php?id=130
http://nerikes.se/meny/rec/rec.asp?id=0&nr=10044
http://www.lemanchester.com/recension.asp?id=423&kat=rec
http://www.pitea-tidningen.se/index.php?artikel=84503&option=19