With a new giant label backing them up and a new letter in the bands name, the guys are back with the follow-up to 2004's best album, "Tsunami". The hype has started again with "The second wave" and, for once, it's well-deserved. With a sound that can tear down walls, Khoma's mix of post-rock, indiepop and metal seem to appeal to a wide range of people. Influences from Radiohead are heard in the vocal arrangements, but not to the extent that it becomes annoying. What really makes this band so interesting is that they sound like no other. With members from great acts like Cult Of Luna, The Perishers and old Plastic Pride, it's bound to come out sounding good. They spill their hearts out for us with songs about the great strike in Sweden ("1909.08.04"), feminism and animal rights. But the political aspects are never taking over, it's always the music that's in focus. And I somehow feel that that's exactly how they want it to be. However, there's a negative side to this record and by that I'm talking about focus. Some of the ballads should have been excluded to make the album a total blow-out. And I must say that the decision to include three already released songs, "One of us must hang", "Stop making speeches", "Like coming home", is somewhat boring. But in spite of this, hat's off to Khoma and I look forward to Metaltown in Gothenburg in July. 'Cause if you like them on their records, you should really try to see them live!
- Jonas Appelqvist
Cheerful Swedish twee with happy horns and lo-fi up beats that will slide easily into any collection that features I'm From Barcelona, Red Sleeping Beauty, or Billie the Vision And The Dancers. There's nothing deep here, just pop songs about love, but their songs are full of heartfelt charm and some promising flashes of wit ("you're mean when you're right/and so sweet when you're wrong"). Here's looking forward to an official release.
- Nancy Baym
These Finns have a thing or two to teach Americans about how to do American roots pop. Soaring vocal melodies, keyboards that harken back to Tom Petty hits of the early 1980s, harmonies that evoke the Jayhawks at their finest, and a strong feel-good energy run through this collection of power-pop gems. It's been a while since I've heard a record with so many melodies that smack you over the head with their tunefulness, then pop out of your subconscience when you wake in the morning. A very nice surprise.
- Nancy Baym
On this album Raised Fist have pushed the limits a bit more. We're still talking about pissed-off, aggresive hardcore here, but the band has made its most diverse set of songs yet. While the first couple of EPs was strongly influenced by Youth Of Today and the old-school hardcore scene, this album contains more metal breakdowns, hard-hitting grooves, no compromising vocals and even more rawk. Yes, it's true, Swedens finest hardcore act (still existing, that is) have a few rock n' roll influenced tunes on this one. And I like it! It keeps the album together perfectly. One of the best things that ever happened to the band was the recruitment of Matte Modin, (and by that I'm not saying that former drummer Oskar Karlsson didn't do a great job), the Dark Funeral-drummer gives them a push forward not imaginable before. I've been in love with Raised Fist ever since they released the "You're not like me"-EP and my love is still intact with "The sound of the republic". In fact, it's even more passionate than before! When it eventually comes time to put together a list of the best albums of 2006, this one will probably be on my top 10.
- Jonas Appelqvist
"The 'Chinese Democracy' of punkrock". The statement in the press release from Burning Heart couldn't be more right. The waiting has been long and the expectations incredibly high. But the comparisons with the Axl Rose-monster stops there. While he seems to be more and more of a shadow of his former self, most Refused-members have great musical careers apart from the old band (Dennis in The (International) Noise Conspiracy, David in David Sandström Overdrive and Jon as Jon F. Kennedy [ed: and don't forget ex-bassist Magnus and Cobolt]). Lots of us grew up with Refused. We went to their gigs, bought every record and sought extrication from other punkbands often lousy records and live shows. When Refused got up on stage or went into the studio we knew magic would come out of it. And that's what makes it so hard to watch this DVD. Sure, the music and photography is brilliant and ex-guitarist Kristofer Steen has made this movie with love, I can tell; but the story about why the band broke up and the feelings evolving around that is never deeply penetrated. My feeling is that they are just scratching the surface. The band broke up during the USA-tour following the masterpiece "The shape of punk to come". All members get interviewed thoroughly and they're giving answers to some things never mentioned before, but when I watch "Refused are fucking dead" I can't help but think "I know this already, I know about the whole scenario. I want to get under their skins and really know how they felt about each other." That makes me wonder one other thing: who is this movie really made for? If you're like me, there's nothing new under the sun in these 38 minutes. And if you're someone who's just interested in what Refused was, the movie can seem a bit too self-centered, as if the filmmakers think it's obvious that people know who this band was. And believe me, as much as I'd like that everyone should know, not all people do know the Refused-story. The extra material is two videos ("New noise" and "Rather be dead") and live clips of every song featured on "The shape of punk to come". Oh, and speaking of liveclips; it's not ok to edit a livegig for a DVD-release. I happen to know for a fact that the samples in "New noise" weren't present during the Popstad-gig in the movie. It's not ok to pretend that everything's alright. At least we can take comfort in that no matter how much I dislike this DVD, "Chinese Democracy" will be even worse. Time will tell.
- Jonas Appelqvist
Copenhagen's Skywriter come seemingly out of nowhere to deliver a remarkably strong debut record. Though the sound is completely their own, it's got shades of Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, and (as fearless leader Avi tells us) early Madrugada. The record is also reminiscent of Interpol in how successfully it sets an urban nighttime mood and sees it through to the end. The singer's got a beautiful clear voice, the guitars serve mainly to create atmosphere, and sultry bass lines propel many of the songs. The sound is dark, melancholic, uplifting, deep, and poignant. Lyrically it's a cut above most ("you drag me off my cloud/you walk along with me/the road follows my eye/as far as I can see"). There's not a weak song on here. My only complaints are that my favorite (this week), "This thing never sleeps," isn't even 3 minutes long when I wish it were 4 or 5, and at 37 minutes total, the whole album ends so soon one has to hit replay immediately. Easily my favorite release so far in 2006.
- Nancy Baym
Too hard to be pop, too pop to be metal, these guys are betwixt and between genres in a way that may satisfy no one. It's music for drinking beer and punching your fists in the air, but if you want to do that, you can probably find better soundtracks than this.
- Nancy Baym
I'm letting IAT contributor Nancy Baym take over for this week's Friday mp3 post:
Clocking in at just under three minutes, here's a heavenly slice of hooks and harmony based pure pop perfection from Malmö's criminally overlooked Thirdimension (one of the bands featured on IAT's first sampler). "Hundred miles an hour" was the b-side of their super-catchy 1998 first single "This time" and, along with four other excellent numbers, can be downloaded from their website [ed: and in the playlist on the right, of course]. Few songwriters can compete with Björn Stegmann's knack for hooks, and across the board their musicianship is stellar. This song, recorded almost entirely in a single take, features more hooks than ought to be legal, delicious harmonies, booming bass, perfect drum riffs, and catchy as all get out guitar, complete with trademark Swedish hand claps. Who could ask for more?
Thirdimension - Hundred miles an hour
When I first heard Holy Madre my initial reaction was fairly similar to what Nancy says in her review. Easy-listening 70s rock? Sounds awful, right? But I decided I should give them another chance just in case. While I'm still not crazy about every single song, the warm spring weather has definitely changed my outlook for the better. Holy Madre is the perfect soundtrack for a sunny afternoon drive with the windows down or for the boombox out in the backyard while you barbeque. It's guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Check out the opening number "Shallow bay" which I've posted today and see if it doesn't brighten your day. [BUY IT]
Kristofer Åström has posted an old live clip for viewing on myspace: [click here]
The release date of Shining's new album has been set for January 2007.
Danish noir-rock act Skywriter (as discussed here a few weeks ago) has a new website: http://www.skywritersdrive.com/
Anomalie Records has announced that they'll be putting out new records from Snoras and Jet Set Njet this summer. Snoras are described as "one man armageddon making some amazing contemporary rock" and JSN are a "refreshing psychedelic art punk collective." More details soon.
Norwegian hardcore act Kaospilot will be touring with Haram in Europe:
08/02 - Ungdomshuset, Copenhagen (DK)
08/03 - Hardcore Festival, Frederica (DK)
08/04 - Flora, Hamburg (GER)
08/05 - AJZ, Bielefeld (GER)
08/06 - Cafe Cairo, Würzburg (GER)
08/07 - Movimento, Wien (AUS)
08/08 - Kafe Kult, München (GER)
08/09 - Juz, Saarlouis (GER)
08/10 - Youth Centre Den Bogaard, Geel (BEL)
08/11 - tba, Brighton (UK)
08/12 - Common Place, Leeds (UK)
08/13 - The Old Angel, Nottingham (UK)
08/14 - The Junction, Bristol (UK)
08/15 - Grosvenor, London (UK)
European tourdates for Norwegian melancholy rockers Washington:
05/28 - Sunset Mission Festival, Dresden (GER)
05/27 - Orange Blossom Festival, Beverungen (GER)
05/26 - AB Club, Brussels (GER)
05/25 - Scheune, Nordhorn (GER)
05/24 - Grend, Essen (GER)
05/23 - Luna Bar, Münster (GER)
05/22 - Zeughaus, Passau (GER)
05/21 - Laboratorium, Stuttgart (GER)
05/20 - Sublime, Aflenz (AUS)
05/19 - Q Bar, Berg Im Drautal (AUS)
05/18 - Chelsea, Vienna (AUS)
05/17 - Treibhaus, Innsbruck (AUS)
05/16 - Morph Club, Bamberg (GER)
05/15 - Kerosin, Augsburg (GER)
05/14 - Subway, Cologne (GER)
05/13 - Karo, Wesel (GER)
05/12 - 13, Tilburg (HOL)
05/11 - Ekko, Utrecht (HOL)
05/10 - Paard van Troje, Den Hague (HOL)
Skywriter