New track today from Regulations, whose self-titled debut album was recently released on Dennis Lyxzén's (The (Int'l) Noise Conspiracy, Refused) new label Ny Våg. Along with Knugen Faller, these dudes are putting Umeå on the map as the place to go for quality punk-rock. And we're talking classic 80s So-Cal style punk, not the kind of stuff that passes for punk on the radio or MTV. This is way more gruff and raw than any of that bullshit. Which is not to say that it's totally lacking in pop flavor. There's still tons of hooks and worthy sing-alongs. I listen to this stuff and I feel like I did when I was twelve years old and just discovering punk for the first time. It's not that they're tackling big issues with the lyrics or anything (they most definitely aren't), but they've got the spirit and that's enough to move me. I often get sour about how bad the scene has become, but then I hear stuff like this and I realize once again that it's not so bad. Can't wait to see 'em when they tour the US this fall. Go here for the latest dates.
Download the track "Good time" from Norway's Uncle's Institution: http://www.unclesinstitution.com/uncles%20institution_good%20time.mp3
Swedish synthpoppers Alice in Videoland have signed a deal with Canadian label/mailorder Storming the Base who will be promoting the band in North America.
Norwegian rock act Cadillac will see their most-recent album "Magnetic city" released in the UK in September along with the single "Locomotive".
Gorilla Movement interviews Promoe from Looptroop: http://www.gorillamovement.com/promoe.html
It's a good read - lots of discussion about the choice of language in Swedish hip-hop, among other topics.
The new Carpathian Forest album has been confirmed for release on January 16 in Europe, January 17 in the US via Season of Mist.
Splendid reviews The Perishers: http://www.splendidmagazine.com/review.html?reviewid=11241031471120848
Norwegian Eardrums posts a couple tracks from one-woman act Harmonica: http://noreardrums.blogspot.com/2005/08/harmonica.html
Stream the brand new Randy track "Evil": http://www.antidotetour.com/jukebox
The band's new album "Randy the band" comes out October 10 via Burning Heart.
Kill, the Norwegian act featuring Erlend Mokkelbost (guitar, JR Ewing), Martin Horntveth (drums, Jaga Jazzist), Are Mokkelbost (bass, synth and vocals, Single Unit/ARM) and Espen Hangård (guitar, NoPlaceToHide), will be touring Scandinavia at the end of September. Dates:
09/21 - Blå, Oslo (NOR)
09/22 - Kvarteret, Bergen (NOR)
09/23 - Folken, Stavanger (NOR)
09/28 - Blæst, Trondheim (NOR)
09/29 - Turisthytta, Bodø (NOR)
09/30 - Verkstedet, Tromsø (NOR)
09/31 - Art Sound Festival, Göteborg (SWE)
Fluxblog posts a track from the new Junior Senior record: http://www.fluxblog.org/2005/08/its-hard-to-find-pearl-in-heart-of.html
I still need to listen to it some more, but my initial impression is that the album is solid even though it can't come close to touching the debut. How could it? They've gotten much better with production, but it's come at the expense of their trademark manic energy. Still, not bad.
Dusted reviews A Taste of Ra, calling it "one of the finest of psych-folk records this year": http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2377