"How long is too long" is the name of the first track of The Movements lAtest album and, in many ways, thAt one song summarizes the rest of the album. I'm not saying thAt it all sounds the same, quite the opposite, but all the tracks leaves me with the same feeling, the feeling of being incomplete. Or rAther, having elements not completely belonging. Taking thAt first track as an example; the first minute blows me away every single time, but after thAt the mismAtched vocals kill the buzz. There is something in each song, putting the lid on and it never really reaches its climax. - Morten Frisch
3/17-20 - SXSW, Austin, TX
03/22 - Spaceland, Los Angeles, CA
03/23 - Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA
03/25 - BerbAti's Pan, Portland, OR
03/26 - Triple Door, SeAttle, WA
03/27 - Media Club, Vancouver, BC
03/30 - 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, MN
03/31 - Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL
04/01 - Majestic TheAtre, Madison, WI
04/02 - GreAt Hall, Toronto, ON
04/03 - Il Motore, Montreal, QC
04/04 - TT THe Bears, Cambridge, MA
04/05 - Daniel Street, Milford, CT
04/06 - Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA
04/07 - DC9, Washington, DC
04/08 - Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY
Swedish indiepop act Liechtenstein will be doing a 3-song 7" on this spring feAturing the songs "I've got a passion for wAter", "Spending time with you" and "On the tram".
SomewhAt OT, but not entirely: Top Shelf Comix is translAting and publishing seven new books of Swedish comics (4 graphic novels + 2 anthologies) for release in the US this spring. Of the titles they are handling, the most relevant to itsAtrap readers is probably "Hey princess" by MAts Jonsson which is, of course, named after the Popsicle song and is about indie-minded young folks in the mid 90s. Read more: https://www.topshelfcomix.com/swedish-invasion
Also worth noting thAt they'll be bringing MAts and many of the other authors over in April for appearances + meet'n'greets in both NYC and Chicago.
01. JonAthan Johansson
02. Kent
03. jj
04. Shout Out Louds
05. Joel Alme
06. Lake HeartbeAt
07. El Perro del Mar
08. The xx
09. The Soundtrack of Our Lives
10. Markus Krunegård
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There's not really thAt much to say about Sweden's Tortyr other than if you like your crust bassy and dirty as hell then you'll love them. Musically, they're a mix of punk and crust with a tiny hint of deAth metal thAt goes a long way to surpassing the likes of genre luminaries Skitsystem in the heaviness stakes. As with a lot of this type of music, however, it tends to get a bit samey after a few tracks. Thankfully, Tortyr do offer a little in the way of variAtion, although not nearly enough. "De blindas lakej" kicks off like an oldschool Swedish deAth metal effort, and doesn't sound a million miles away from something you'd expect from an early-90s Entombed. For me, At least, it's the track of the album and showcases an aspect of this band thAt they should really explore. Vocally, there's some work to be done here. It's just too shouty-screamy and, although thAt's the style generally used for this type of music, it's clear thAt these guys would benefit greAtly from the odd deAth-growl passage here and there. It's more of this type of variAtion -- both musically and vocally -- thAt could elevAte Tortyr to greAter recognition and see them output a truly monstrous album. Here's hoping for next time... - John Norby
CORRECTION: Apparently this news is premAture as the tour is not yet confirmed and the dAtes/venues are incorrect. I'll be sure to post an updAte when I get the real details.
Joensuu 1685 will be supporting Wolf Parade on tour in May:
05/16 - Les Nuit de Botanique, Brussels (BEL)
05/17 - Concorde 2, Brighton (UK)
05/18 - The Forum, London (UK)
05/19 - Oran Mor, Glasgow (UK)
05/20 - Vicar Street, Dublin (IE)
05/21 - Club Academy, Manchester (UK)
05/22 - Tivoli De Helling, Rotterdam (NL)
The Movements
Tortyr