Essential first-wave Swedish hardcore that's raging fast, surprisingly melodic and also a heckuva lot of fun. Even better, the rare tracks culled from various cassette releases, live sessions and so on are every bit as good as the band's all-too-few official vinyl recordings, limited to a mere split 7" with fellow Swedes Panik and the first volume of the "Really fast" comp series. Hopefully most folks who fit the target audience for this LP will have already picked it up by now, but for dabblers there's always Spotify. - Avi Roig
Check out a sample from the upcoming RAS album, due out in October via : http://t.co/qEOCrkS0
I don't know anything about this band at all, but instrumental synthpunk is all good by me.
Been meaning to get this written up for over a week now, but I haven't found the time and now that I'm about head out on vacation to Sweden for a couple weeks, I figure I need to get at least something up. So without further ado, here's my picks for the best releases of 2012 so far (in alphabetical order):
Agent Side Grinder - Hardware () Beastmilk - Use your deluge () Diskoteket - Det ska se ut som slutet () Magnus Ekelund & Stålet - Supernova EP () Nitad - Rastlös & vild () Susanne Sundfør - The silicone veil () Tvärvägen - Staring directly into the sun () Vånna Inget - Jag ska fly tills jag hittar hem ()
On the cusp/too early to tell: Anchorless - Every nook and cranny () Norra Kust - s/t () Westkust - Junk EP ()
Reissues: Missbrukarna - Zooma in en zombie () Ratsia - Jäljet ()
Listen to a selection of these records below via Spotify:
has made the much-anticipated Missbrukarna LP available for preorder: http://www.skrammelrecords.se/
Grab it now and get a free 7" from Alouatta or The Nature, both equally solid bands.
This is is the sound of Stockholm punkrock scene vets having a good time, free from any sort of high-minded aspirations. Maybe I'm projecting too much of my own psyche on this, but I strongly suspect that these folks are more than content to get together semi-regularly to play music and drink beer (not necessarily in that order) and maybe then play a few shows for their friends. The fact that they got it together enough to record a long sets worth of material and press it to wax is purely incidental. Eventually you get to a point where that's just what you do, the next logical step in any band's evolution. As for the quality, a record like this is essentially critic-proof -- hence no grade -- and whether or not me or my cronies are impressed is beside the point; if you're not a member of Sexpistoltanten's social circle, this record wasn't made for you anyway. I see it as an audio postcard, a document of a very specific time and place. Local rock for local rockers. And that's totally okay. - Avi Roig
As mentioned in February, is releasing a compilation LP of rare and never-released material from classic Swedish punks Missbrukarna and it's now confirmed that said collection will be called "Zooma in en zombie" and it will be released on August 30 and will feature 30+ tracks plus extensive liner notes. Download a sample tune: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15455672/Missbrukarna%20Du%20%C3%A4r%20inte%20du.mp3
is offering up a couple sample tunes from the upcoming Makabert Fynd album, due out next week: http://skrammelrecords.se/
Bummed to say that I'll be out of town on vacation when they tour the West Coast next month, but then again, I won't be too bummed to be hanging out in the redwoods instead.
The new Sexpistolstanten & Mockfjärdsvapnet LP, out now on , made a bunch of MRR top-10 lists this month: http://maximumrocknroll.com/2011/04/20/top-tens-336/
I got a copy of it too, but I've yet to spend too much time with it. First impressions are quite good though.
Swedish punk label (Slöa Knivar, Krig i Hudik, Brainbombs, etc.) has started a new offshoot called in order to release what they say is "music that is perhaps more awkvard, worse, better, more lean, more pop, more dance than what we havce been doing so far at Skrammel." First up, a new 10" EP from rockers Alouatta called "DIY" which will be out on May 6. Read more and check out a pre-mastered sample tune: http://skrammelrecords.se/sodertorn/
has announced that their next project will be a Missbrukarna LP consisting of the legendary Swedish punk band's sole full-length release, which I believe is the "Krigets gentlemen" cassette. More details are forthcoming... UPDATE: Skrammel has informed me that the LP will actually be a collection of various never-released material that they compiled together with the assistance of member Rolf Bäcklund. Expect it to be out sometime this spring.
has posted a preview clip from the upcoming Sexpistoltanten and Mockfjärdsvapnet 12" they'll be releasing in the not-so-distant future -- hit up their website and look for the link under the January 17 news item: http://skrammelrecords.se/
Missbrukarna
Sexpistolstanten och Mockfjärdsvapnet
