My first impression of The Generals: Oh, sweet! A new Swedish death'n'roll band; been awhile since I've heard someone new trying to capture that sound. They recorded at Sunlight Studios too, I bet this is gonna be killer. And what's this...? Cover art by Kristian Wåhlin aka Necrolord? Damn, I didn't even know he was still active -- I'm really excited to hear this.
On actually listening to them: I've been swindled. This is mediocre Swedish death with a few rock'n'roll riffs jammed in every so often. The feel is incredibly stiff too, something not helped at all by the weak canned drum sound and overall lack of ambiance. Where's the swagger, the swing? I thought this was supposed to be death'n'roll... what it actually is is just boring. Way too many big names attached to such a product of pure mediocrity. Avoid.
Swedish noiserockers Traktor will be releasing the new 7" single "Where water goes" on May 5, just before they hit the road for a 2-week tour. Dates at myspace, hopefully the a-side soon too: http://www.myspace.com/traktorbiz
Swedish noisepunks Faster Katt have finally secured themselves a steady lineup by enlisting Jonas Rydberg (ex-Burst) and Mattias Engström (Memfis), both of whom are manning the bass. Hear some killer new recordings at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/fasterkatt
The folks at The Swede Beat are presenting event at the Music Doc Film Festival in NYC on April 15 featuring a screening of the Broder Daniel documentary "Broder Daniel forever" plus "Fuck you very very much - A film about Leila K", "Electronica Reykjavik" and more. Full details, including the rest of the Music Doc events: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=347005224972&ref=ts
Swedish electropop duo City (feat. members from Slagsmålsklubben and The High Fives) will be releasing their debut EP in May called "Det var inte bättre förr det är bara sämre nu" and you can already preview a few tracks at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/citysweden
are offering a new track from The Mary Onettes for free download: http://www.labrador.se/funeral/ "The night before the funeral" will be released as a 7" single for Record Store Day on April 17.
Finally, new music from Danish noiserockers Menfolk now streaming: http://www.myspace.com/menfolk
The band's long-awaited new album "Beast one / Man nil" comes out May 31 via and will available on LP or as a paid download (both as mp3 or 24-bit audio).
Stream three tracks from Okkultokrati's upcoming album "No light for mass": http://www.tigernet.no/shop/release.php?code=128455
Along with the new Haust record, this is one of my most anticipated releases of the spring.