The Bashful
Swede #2
A
Scan/Indie Column by Johanna Hillgren
When you think
of Swedish music you probably come to think
of the adorable and admirable Abba. Or perhaps the
abhorrent, abominable abcess Ace
of Base. You may think of anything
between the repulsive, repellent Roxette
and
the R&B rascal Robyn. Between the cute
conquerors Cardigans and the calamity Creeps (I doubt it but if you
really remember them: excellent knowledge of
pop trivia).
There is even
a possibility that you know the knockdown
kooky Komeda, for opening some
shows for Beck, or the firecracker Fireside, for playing
Lollapalooza last year, or the mimic
skatecore group Millencolin, for touring a couple
of months ago with Social
Distortion, Pennywise and others.
Well, I guess
you know at least a couple of those Swedish
bands. What my hopes are though, is that you
wouldnīt think this is it, that this is the
Swedish scene. So...for this time my
intentions are merely to list some of the
bands you might meet here in the future. To
make you sit at home just waiting for that
next issue of Pandemonium
Online featuring that Scandinavian
column - the one that allows you to try to
impress the Swedish chicks on campus. (At
least that's why Captain
Spaulding tells me he reads this column.)
Bob
Hund unfortunately sing in Swedish,
but they claim to have an album in English
coming up - under the name International
Bob. Meanwhile you could listen to Dipper, who sound pretty much
the same but in English, less outstanding and
without the extraordinary lyrics... Eggstone commute between their
tours in Japan and Sweden - and they have
paid visits to England
as well. The release of their
album Vive la différence! was
preceded by a songbook, so the fans could
learn how to play the songs before the album
actually was released, cool!
This Perfect Day's comeback a while ago
was longed for and so is the next album, if
there is one, by Popsicle. Kent
is
Swedens answer to Radiohead, but Iīm sorry they
sing in Swedish, as well as the
underestimated Hardy Nilsson. Souls played a couple of
gigs in New York about a year ago and Sludge
Nation changed their address to
Tucson, Arizona a year ago.
Silverbullit recently had to change
their name from Silverbullet in order to
prevent an eventual copy-right trial. By the
way the singer once got arrested because the
police thought he was on drugs - the blood
test showed no alcohol and no drugs but a
small amount of caffeine...(I saw them last
weekend and I can tell why they thought he
was on drugs).
Surreal and Robot are two bands on the
new label Starboy recordings, and
according to their first singles and to
seeing them live their albums will be great. Yvonne proved to be a
wonderful pop band when their Joy
Division influences faded. Honey
Is Cool released their album Crazy
Love, and since then Iīve been
wandering around with Karin Dreijers voice
floating around in my head. Jay Jay Johansson
with his easy listening/triphop (heīs
actually a Frank Sinatra for the 90īs)
deserves more attention than the one heīs
got in France. Hellacopters' ordinary but adorable
heavy metal/rockīnīroll makes you
capitulate even if you donīt like that kind
of music.
Other bands
and artists, such as Teddybears,
Speaker, The Mopeds, Petrol, Smash Hit
Wonders, Bear Quartet, Broder Daniel, Fiesta and
Stina Nordenstam (an English paper once
wrote about her, comparing her to Morrissey - making Morrissey
look like some kind of cheerful party animal)
may turn up in this column at any time. So,
until next time; read Nick Hornbys novel High
Fidelity - itīs the best I have read
for a long time. And yes, it is about music.
Johanna
Hillgren, Gothenburg, Sweden.
johanna.hillgren@swipnet.se
Previous Bashful
Swede Manifestoes:
Bashful
Swede #1-- Fidget, Wannadies, Introductions
