The Hives - Rigor Mortis Radio

 

1. Who are The Hives? 

The Hives are a garage rock band from Fagersta, Sweden. They have been making music since 1993 and Rigor Mortis Radio (July, 2023) is the third single off their sixth album The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons (Aug, 2023). 

2. What kind of song is Rigor Mortis Radio? 

Rigor Mortis Radio is a jaunty radio-friendly garage rock song with hand claps and wide appeal to the masses about having the confidence to live life your own way. It carries just enough spark of originality to survive on my playlist as a guilty pleasure. 

3. Which bands do The Hives sound like? 

They are often compared to bands like The Jets, The Vines, The Fratellis, The Von Bondies.  

4. Which bands influenced The Hives? 

Their early influences are said to be Rancid, The Dead Kennedys, Turbo Negro, and New Bomb Turks. 

5. What did the sycophants in the press say about Rigor Mortis Radio?

"Swaggering" - Stereogum.

"Feral energy, a garage punk fizzer to sit along the greats" - Clash Music.

"A slice of grinding stomping and insanely infectious Garage Punk - 100 Word Song Review.

"Here's how much longer I can stand your shit,

I'm gonna hold it back, this tongue in crack,

It's gotta end I'm not an evening snack"

Vita Bergen - Replace

 

1.    Who are these fellas?

Vita Bergen are an electronic indie band from Gothenburg, Sweden who formed in 2010. Replace (Jan'16) bubbles off their debut album Disconnection (Oct'15).


2. What do Vita Bergen have on offer?

Replace is a dark atmospheric dance rock tune that casts a glance to days gone by.


3. Who do Vita Bergen sound like?

Tape TV are sure Replace sounds like Mando Daio and a consensus led by Clash Music think Vita Bergen are generally like Arcade Fire.


4. What have the press said about Vita Bergen's music?

“Driving bass and urgent tempo” – The Revue.

“Grandiose soundscapes sometimes closing in on the bombastic” – Meadow Music.

“Large extravagent instrumentation with a driving rhythm section” – Bedroom Disco.

 

5. Who are Vita Bergen’s influences?

Vita Bergen's main influences are Wolf Parade, Bright Eyes, Okkervil River, Arcade Fire, Neil Young, Pink Floyd and Neil Young.


6. Why should I give Replace a listen?

Replace is a new take on an old electronic goth sound and it does it well. Good for a change of pace.


7. Do Vita Bergen have any more great songs?

Curtains is the best thing Vita Bergen have ever done and was one of the very best indie songs of 2014. Absolute, knock me down dead, brilliance.


8. Any more information about Vita Bergen?

Vita Bergen means white mountain but is not a reference to the park in Stockholm. It is a reference to the mountains of Gothenburg and an allusion to their purity.

Vita Bergen drive a big black Chevy that gets three miles to the gallon.

“We replace ourselves, because the past is binary”

 

 

The Mission are a gothic rock band from Leeds, England, who started in 1986 and are still going strong. They have produced eleven albums in their long history. Carved In Sand (1990) is their most popular. The album had a handful of singles but Deliverance is the fucking killer. Go to the one and a half minute mark for the start of the song. Mental live. Goes right off.

“Surrender to the wisom of age and the spirits of time”

 

 

 

Novah - Revolution

1.   Who are these young lads?

Novah are an atmospheric indie rock band from Stockholm, Sweden. Novah took flight in 2013 and their debut single Robot (Aug'15) had big play. Revolution comes crusading off their debut E.P. Alaska (2016).

 2.   What kind of tune are Novah pushing?

Revolution is aiming for epic and emotive. Bottom of the heart, gut-wrenched, vocals accompanied with acoustic guitar that kicks in to electric guitar to take flight in the chorus. Revolution is stadium filling, arms in the air, soft rock for the masses.

3. Who do Novah sound like?

Coldplay. The Planet Of Sound say Novah sound like Local Natives, The Verve and M83.

4. What do the Lords and Ladies of the press have to say about Revolution?

“A slowly driven indie track that explodes into an epic open arms experience with its soft vocals.” – Alternative Tracks.

“Sonically stunning and particularly crafted new single.” –The Four Oh Five.

“Blew me away with one listen.” – The Daily Listening.

5. Which bands have inspired these wunderkinds?

Coldplay maybe.

6. Why should I give Revolution a listen?

Because being a hater is wrong and deep down in your heart you remember a time of euphoric happiness when listening to a Coldplay song. 

7. Do Novah have any more good songs?

Revolution is far and away the band's best.

8. Are there any more interesting facts to share about Novah?

Novah went to an isolated Swedish island to record their E.P. instead of using an established studio in Copenhagen.

The Magic Numbers are an indie folk pop band who hail from Ealing, England. They have been making music together since 2002 and have four grand albums on display. Mornings Eleven (2005) was the first single off their self-titled album and one of the best tunes The Magic Numbers have ever made. Their concerts have been called “a quasi-religious affair” and “a fully fledged cult affair” by The Independent and Pitchfork calls Mornings Eleven a “banjo-like guitar romp.”  Here’s the real deal. The Magic Numbers.

“Baby if you telephone,

Maybe I can meet you in the morning,

Come on your own”

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - The Royal Concept

The Royal Concept came kicking out of Stockholm, Sweden in 2012. Fashion (Aug’15) comes off their third short player Smile (Aug’15). The band have one album to their name Gold Rushed (2013). Fashion is said to "...strut from a funky guitar into a disco-chant replete with sizzling falsetto and unshakeable beat."  The Royal Concept's music has been described as "sun-baked pop and compelling rock." The band's influences are Daft Punk, Paul Simon and The Strokes.

 

 

 

 

Fashion is a frivilous, rollicking number that saunters along with flashes off Rolling Stones-esque guitar and beat and then goes all Scissor Sisters in the choral choruses. Other tunes it minds me off are Spoon Rent I Pay and The Kooks Bad Habit. A song about feeling inadequate in a relationship it may be vacuous, but Fashion is as much fun as sex on methamphetimines and one of the best indie songs of 2015.
 

“I dress like shit, call it fashion

But your fashions the shit”

 

 
 

Shit you need to know:

The Royal Concept are often compared to Phoenix but I’m thinking New Politics, Youngblood Hawke or Grouplove.

The new EP Smile was produced by Tony Hoffer who did the same for Phoenix, The Kooks, M83 and Depeche Mode.

The music on the new short player has “...sunsoaked flavor, upbeat swing, and uncontainable energy” and a glam inspired change of musical direction.The band are big fans of St Vincent.

The Royal Concept's music has been called "electro-funk" and "nu-disco".

The Royal Concept have supported The Wombats, Misterwives and Switchfoot.

More feel good and get-off-your-arse and dance Royal Concept tracks are On Our Way, Smile and Higher Than Love.
 

 

Twice the love for the price of one comes courtesy of these two Swedish and Malawi musicians The Very Best. Makes A King (May'15) is a song that transcends cultural differences to provide a sublime musical experience. True to their name this tune is out-fucking-standing.

 
 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Friska Viljor

Firska Viljor are an indie pop duo from Stockholm, Sweden who started in 2005 and have six long players under their belt. My Boys (Jun’15) comes snapping off their album My Name Is Friska Viljor (Jun’15). My Boys was reviewed as “...like a hurricane whipping a legion of musical elements and nostalgic moments up into the eye of its melodic storm.” More succinctly Friska Viljor's music in general has been called “shambolic, euphoric indie pop.”

Ironically My Boys song is a whinge about how to overcome angst brought on by fatherhood. Though you know they found the answer in this upbeat piece of malarky. It pops like a fourteen year old girls cherry and bounces like you flipped her over to do her like a fourteen year old boy. The verses snap and pop but the chorus is a violin assisted choral all in that charges like a racing horse. A white horse. Pure joy. You’d have to be broken inside not to love it.

“No weight upon my chest

Now I'm sleeping through the night

And I know its my final choice

And I owe it all to them my boys”


 

 

Shit you need to know:

Friska Viljor have vowed never to compose songs while sober.

They describe their music as “sauna rock with poppy elements and folky instrumentation.”

According to the Friska Viljor the new album has “...energy, horns, strings and big epic choruses.”

Friska Viljor have been compared to Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes, The Lumineers and Of Monsters and Men.
 
The band name means “healthy mind” but is meant to be ironic.

More brilliant Friska Viljor songs that will re-affrim your love for life are Bite Your Head Off and In My Sofa I’m Safe.

 

The dodgy double dip comes courtesy of American alternative rock band R.E.M today and their 1994 hit What’s The Frequency Kenneth. Because it’s as solid as Dwayne Johnson’s hard-on.

“You said that irony was the shackles of youth”

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Theo Berndt

Just give me the chorus you say and Theo Berndt were listening. Just twenty seconds in to Atomic (Dec’14) the boys are giving the chorus vocals the tits big style. Atomic is one of those big happy indie pop chest bangers. Anthemic. Radio friendly. Festival ready. Indie for the masses.  And yes, ‘love’ is in the lyrics. Of course it bloody is.

It’s not all middle of the road indie though, there are a few kinks thanks to some desperately impassioned vocals, an intro not unlike a Who tune and some spacey lyrics. Atomic is a song that asks people to stop being narcissistic with a traditional big indie chorus. Atomic is a cinch for one of the best indie songs of 2015. Turn it up loud and explode.

“But you’ll be moving on,

try to find something to conquer”

 

  


Theo Berndt are a five piece pop band from Gothenburg, Sweden. They have been making music for over five years and while Atomic is a stand alone single they have two long players in the vault.

Shit you need to know:

Theo Berndt have found more success in Asia than anywhere else. They did a successful tour of China in 2013.

Theo Berndt  are big fans of Welsh indie band Los Campesinos! and Norwegian indie popsters Team Me.

The Japanese have big wide-ons for the band.

Theo Berndt  have been compared to Los Campesinos! and Aussie indie poppers Architecture In Helsinki.

The spit roast must go to Welsh indie rock wonders Los Campesinos! and the desert island record  Avocado Baby (2013).

Undoubtedly the best from a band choc full of goodies.

“May she who casts the first fist of dirt on the casket,

have mourners lick the mud from her fingernails”

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Vita Bergen

There’s a symphonic feel to Vita Bergen’s Curtains (Oct’14). It's an epic trip from more than slightly sad to ecstatic. And that's just the opening bars. And the song in it's entirety too is cerebral and passionate and magnificent.They’re definitely a bit of strange on the side and they make it hard to love because they don’t put out easy. Something in the singers voice calls to mind Ian Curtis of Joy Division, not the timbre of voice but because of the searching question without an answer.

That answer is out of reach until it's right fuckin there. Curtains is two full minutes of building, introspective tension before the climatic all in. And three minutes before the joyful bounce. And it is a joy, a sublime, sweet release. An electric indie rock song with variations; massive rewards are here for the patient.

 

 

Vita Begen are a Swedish electronic indie band that have been composing masterpieces for more than three years. They are two friends, two brothers and four more onstage musicians. Curtains comes from their self-titled short player Vita Bergen (Oct’14).

 

Shit you didn’t need to know:

Vita Bergen translates as White Mountain and refers to a park in Stockholm.

Vita Bergen have been compared to Arcade Fire and My Morning Jacket by fucking lazy journos.

Need another movement? Try Run, A Picture of Before or Mirror Blind.



 
Awesome Swedes huh? Just the fuckin excuse I need to give these funny fuckers a listen.

A Swedish garage rock band with no small dose of Americana this is Get A Little Lovin' (1990) off their most successful and accessible album Blue Tomato. And it's glorious.