Swedish Sunday – Ponamero Sundown
The problem with discovering so much new music is that not everything will get the attention that it deserves. Some bands will steal the show more than others, and then bands get lost in the shuffle. Fortunately, the Internet has a way of bringing you back around to some of the bands you have forgotten. Today’s featured band suffered the same fate and found their way back to me. Now while they have captured my attention again, I present to you Ponamero Sundown.
From their facebook:
Memorable hooks, tons of groove, a free spirit and enough riffs to fill a canyon! That is the recipe behind this band who started their journey in mid November 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden. The idea was to write music influenced by a favoured decade in hard rock – the 70´s together with the warm fuzz of the stoner rock scene. The members come from different backgrounds but have been in the music scene for years, playing in different constellations and outfits…
Swedish Sunday – Dexter Jones Circus Orchestra
Welcome once again to Swedish Sunday. Today we step away a bit from the usual heavy stuff and go with some good old fashioned progressive rock.
Dexter Jones’ Circus Orchestra was formed 2001 in Umeå, Sweden by Tia Marklund, David and Daniel Israelsson, Håkan Dalsfelt and Kent Jonsson. The debut record “The Losers are Back in Town” was recorded in 2003 and released by Freebird Records as a 7” vinyl.
The album received extremely good reviews from stoner rock circles. The work with a fullength album started shortly after and the self titled debut (on Freebird Records) was presented in 2004, containing 10 dynamite songs. Slowly things started to happen. DJCO was booked at Eurosonic Festival January 2005 and toured mainland Europe twice, at times, together with the cult band Hypnos 69. The s/t got great reviews and was even titled ”the album of the year” by some of the leading European rock magazines. The songs could also be found on a few compilation records such as “The Ultimate fuzzcollection” (Fuzzorama Records). (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Black Bonzo
…And Sunday comes afterwards. Yes, folks, today is Sunday. This means, of course, that we here at The Soda Shop take a detour to the Scandinavian country of Sweden, a well-known hotbed of some of today’s best music. Much like the last few weeks, today’s feature is another relatively unknown band (to me, at least), Black Bonzo. This retro rock/progressive rock band is from Skellefteå, and will probably go down as one of my favorite accidental discoveries.
From their last.fm bio:
In the winter of 2003 Black Bonzo was formed from the ashes of the 8-piece psychedelic rock group Gypsy Sons Of Magic. The first 6 month the band practiced 24 hours a day in their rehearsal room in Skellefteå, Sweden. They worked really hard trying to find a sound of their own and getting the mood right for the songs. Soon after that a demo was produced with 17 songs. This demo somehow reached the B&B Records office who liked the music so much that they signed Black Bonzo to their label.
In the begining of 2004 Black Bonzo started to record the debut album at the classic analog studio Rumble Road Studios, in Skellefteå. In late march the recording, mixing and mastering was finished and in July the record was released. (more…)
Scandinavian Sunday – Cherry Overdrive
Welcome to our Scandinavian Sunday feature. This weeks feature is an all girl band who sing some fine garage rock. Here’s the bio via their website:
Danish all girl garage-psych rockers Cherry Overdrive has a long and persistent history of hard working and do-it-yourself attitude, integrity and a lot of live experience which over the years has made them fairly recognized outside their native country Denmark.
Cherry Overdrive was formed during fall 2003 in Copenhagen by Swedish guitarist Cecilia Cresso (Drivers, Harry Lime), drummer Jeanne Dahl-Mikkelsen, Brazilian bass player Jirasol Pereira and singer/guitarist Lene Kjær Hvillum (The Davolinas, Fuzz Manta). The girls had their live debut on 1st may 2004, soon followed by their first tour in Germany in fall 2004 and the band released their first ep, “Sharks” also in 2004. Two songs from this ep were released in Germany on the split single “Cherry Overdrive meets Mandragora Lightshow Society” (Swamp Room Records, 2005). The band has continuously toured Germany several times a year ever since.
Swedish Sunday – Switch Opens
It’s yet another Sunday, and that means my weekend is coming to a close, and I will find myself in the bowels of Hell in less than 24 hours. It also means Swedish Sunday. This week’s featured artist is from Stockholm and is a little different from my normal features. Switch Opens started off as a stoner rock band as Fingerspitzengefühl but are now more progressive and doom. It left me impressed enough to make them today’s featured artist. (more…)
Swedish Sunday – The Soulshake Express
Welcome back to Swedish Sunday. Today’s band is a band that I discovered a while back and is deserving of the spotlight for the week, The Soulshake Express. They hail from Karlstad, Sweden.
From Last.FM
The band started out in the late summer of 2003. David, Marcus and Robert had been fooling around for a while with some old blues songs with David behind the drums. With higher ambitions the three decided to ask their mutual friend Joakim to handle the drums. With David on lead guitar and vocals, The Showdowns was born. Starting out with some song material that David had, the band soon had a good idea of what they wanted their sound to be like. With influences from blues and rock n roll they started to develop their own style of “bouncy” rock. A new member recently joined the band. With Martin Hammar helping out on organs and percussions the band has established a strong name as The Soulshake Express in the underground scenes and are now on a mission to shake your souls! (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Thalamus
It’s yet another Sunday, the day before the work week begins and the last chance at some peace in your world. It’s also the day that we bring you a band from Sweden that you may or may not have heard of. Today’s band is a band I discovered early last year. To date, they’ve released one full length and an EP with another full length coming up. Well, I’ll let them tell you a little more… (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Magnus Pelander
Last week’s feature brought you one of the best that today’s stoner/doom has to offer with Witchcraft. This week, we’re doing something a tad bit different. We’re featuring Magnus Pelander, the voice of the mighty Witchcraft. (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Witchcraft
This week’s feature is a band that I hold in high regards and is a bad that I have a history with. This band was the third show I saw live, and it was the first band I saw in a small venue. It was an amazing experience and one that really set off my love affair for live shows, especially those in dark, small bars. They are the first and only Swedish band I have seen live to date. They are the influential doom metal/rock band from Örebro, Witchcraft. (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Truckfighters
This week, we are going back to one of the first stoner rock bands I ever discovered and got into. They’re also the first, true stoner rock album purchase I ever made. That album being Phi from the always impressive Truckfighters.
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Swedish Sunday – Spiders
Today’s Swedish Sunday is a new band. They’re a super group of sort as you’ll read in the bio. The group is Spiders. Don’t worry though, these are the good kind.
SPIDERS was formed in Gothenburg in February 2010. A few months later the band appeared at one of Sweden’s most successful music festivals, Way Out West. It was around this time SPIDERS for the first time as a band stepped into the studio with producer Don Ahlsterberg (The Soundtrack of Our Lives, International Noise Conspiracy, Jose Gonzalez) and started recording. Crusher Records now have the very proud honor to present the result: a 10-inch vinyl EP ready to detonate (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Mother of God
Our next Swedish Sunday was recently featured as a New Band To Burn One To. The band is Mother of God. As you’ll read in their bio, they incorporate a lot of grunge into their music giving it an almost Soundgarden and Alice in Chains hybrid. Their sound is something out of the 90’s Seattle scene and in a cool way too.
Mother of God has since 2008 attracted great attention with their music full of mysticism, grunge, stoner, rock, and brought listeners from all over the world. One of the reasons is the music video “Rebel” and that their songs have been played on radio in Australia, UK, USA and Sweden.
They have supported Dozer and played in Denmark with their greatest stoner band, Sedated Angel. A new EP called “Forging a New Path” will be released in January and will be followed by a series of gigs around Sweden, and then look beyond national borders. A European Tour is planned in the summer. (more…)
Scandinavian Sunday – Sahg
Following Bill’s lead from last week, I decided to take a short detour outside of Sweden for this week’s feature, and I have found myself in Norway, another Scandinavian country alongside Sweden. Thus, today is being dubbed Scandinavian Sunday and features the ever impressive Sahg.
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Swedish Sunday – Brutus
Today’s featured band on Swedish Sunday is a band that has, until recently, flown under the radar here at The Soda Shop. That band is Transubstans Records artist Brutus. Here is their bio via the Transubstans website.
Around 2006 after countless evenings and nights in front of, and around, their local bar. After heeps of loud discussions and intense arguments on how everything just sounded so much better before – these guys felt the time was right to take matters into their own hands.
Three bearded Swedes and two Norwegians immediately started to deep-dive into their own private collections of LPs and thus the conception of a musical journey was in process. (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Deville
After a nice, long holiday weekend, Swedish Sunday is now back. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays, and I hope you’re ready for more great music. Today’s featured artist is the always heavy Deville.
From their MySpace bio:
When it all came together at the end of 2003 Deville was born after some years of searching. Through a haze of rock, metal and stoner the members have found a way to do something that feels… The line-up was complete when Åkesson came back from Australia and Hambitzer gave up soulless pop and joined the inseparable duo, Andy and Markus. Since the 2004 line-up there have been over 150 gigs and festivals in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and Portugal. Deville has also appeared in radio and national press in these countries. Daredevilrecords released at the end of 2005 a double feature cd lp with Deville and gothenburgers Sergej the Freak called Sergej the Freak meets Deville. Deville signed to Buzzville Records in 2007 and the album Come Heavy Sleep was released in Benelux, December 2007 and in the rest of Europe and the US in the beginning of 2008. Hail the Black Sky is the latest album released in June 2009 again through Buzzville in Europe and in the US and the touring in Europe has continued.
Swedish Sunday – Noctum
Our next Swedish Sunday goes to a fairly newcomer to the Swedish music scene, Noctum. Noctum have been together for a little over a year. They hail from Uppsala, Uppsala län, Sverige.
Traditional doom metal from Sweden, mixing early Black Sabbath and Pentagram with 70s proto-metal influences a-la Sir Lord Baltimore and Budgie.
Recommended for fans of: Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Count Raven, Witchcraft, Sir Lord Baltimore, etc.
Tobias Rosén – Bass
David Indelöf – Guitar/Vocals
Per Wikström – Guitar
Gustaf Heinemann – Drums
Swedish Sunday – Spice and the RJ Band
It’s Sunday, and you know what that means! NFL FOOTBALL SUNDAY. Well, that and Swedish Sunday here at The Soda Shop. Today, we are featuring a band formed and fronted by the legendary Spice Sjöstrand.
Spice and the RJ Band is the name of a exciting band featuring vocalist/songwriter Spice (Kayser, ex-Spiritual Beggars) and drummer Bob Ruben (Kayser, ex-The Mushroom River Band). The band released it’s debut album The Will in October 2007 on Scarlet Records. The band is driven by Spice’s insane passion for ‘70s psychedelic/soul/blues/hard rock sound that never disappeared during all those years. In february 2009 they released their sophomore album Shave Your Fear.
For their 2010 release, Feel Like Coming Home, the band changed their name to Band of Spice. (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Dollhouse
Welcome once again to Swedish Sunday. Today we step away a bit from the usual heavy stuff and go with some good old fashioned tuned down rock and roll. Today’s featured band is Dollhouse.
Michael Davis, from the legendary Detroit band The MC5, took Dollhouse to his heart and praised the band beyond the ordinary. After he heard their first 7″-vinyl, he flew Dollhouse to the USA in order to produce the band’s debut album “The Rock & Soul Circus” on his own. Moreover, Davis described the guys’ sound as “This is what the MC5 whished we could have sounded like”.
Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters took the band under his wings and produced their second and very critically acclaimed album The Royal Rendezvous. Andersson himself describes Dollhouse as “one of the best live bands on the planet today“.
Dollhouse has toured a lot, and they always got great response from media. They’ve gathered a big fan base all over the world. Furthermore they have had the opportunity to tour with great names such as; The MC5, The Hellacopters, Radio Birdman, The Flaming Sideburns, The Bellrays, Electric Frankenstein, Hardcore Superstar, Baby Woodrose and King Khan & his Shrines.
Now, 2010, Dollhouse is back with their new album Rock n Roll Revival. The record was originally released in 2009, but since then the band decided to let Nicke Andersson from The Hellacopters re-mix of the whole album. (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Burning Saviours
Yes, folks, it is Sunday, and you know what that means. It’s time to showcase more great music from the Scandanavian musical hotbed otherwise known as Sweden. In a bit of a break from our current streak of retro-rock bands, today’s Swedish Sunday is about Swedish “classic” doom metal band, Burning Saviours, from Örebro. (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Skånska Mord
Sunday starts the week off for many and it’s no different here at The Soda Shop. Today’s featured Swedish band is Small Stone’s own Skånska Mord. While they’re a new band, the fellas in the band are no freshmen to the music scene. Read on.
Bio via Small Stone:
Klippa och rulla. If one were to translate “Rock and Roll” into Swedish that’s what you’d get. Translate it back and things get a little dicey. Mow and wheel; not quite a literal translation if ever there was one. Strangely, not the worst way to describe Sweden’s Skånska Mord. Fuzzed out psychedelica, the likes of which hasn’t been heard since the heyday of real rock in the 70’s, oozes from the amps and tears across the landscape like some kind of lawnmower on acid. The world starts to spin; everything goes black and then several shades of purple. All that, and then the songs kick in… (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Dead Man
Today marks the 10th week of Swedish Sunday. Time flies by when you have all of this great music surrounding you. As always, we must thank the Swedes for putting out such great music that deserves special recognition. This week’s artist is somewhat of a supergroup like last week’s artist, Greenleaf. Without further ado, I introduce this week’s band out of Örebro, Dead Man.
From Crusher Records‘ band page: (more…)
Swedish Sunday – Greenleaf
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Anyone like supergroups? Our next featured band for Swedish Sunday is a supergroup of sorts, Greenleaf.
Bio from the band’s Myspace page:
In theory, forming a rock group seems like a no brain’er. Get a group of musicians who have a shared love of certain bands and who can get along with each other for at least an hour. Hell, sometimes they don’t even have to be musicians (especially if you’re looking at the Top 40 charts). But in reality, it’s a lot tougher, as the essential ingredient? What makes the group truly unique and memorable – is something that can’t be defined, learned, or bought. Call it talent, magic, or whatever you want, but Greenleaf’s got it. A super group of the stoner rock scene, the band was formed sometime in late 1999/early 2000 by guitarist Tommi Holappa (Dozer), drummer Daniel Liden (Demon Cleaner and the drummer on DOZER’s “Through the Eyes of Heathens,” and currently in AND The Machine Said Behold!), and engineer/ bassist Bengt Bäcke. Featuring a revolving cast of fellow musicians who share a love of heavy fuzz rock, including Fredrik Nordin (Dozer), Daniel Jansson (Stonewall Noise Orchestra), and Peder Bergstrand (Lowrider), Greenleaf has consistently defined what rock ‘n’ roll was, is, and should be. You put 2001’s “Revolution Rock” and 2003’s “Secret Alphabets” on and you’re going to have a hard time taking them off. The band cooks, because they’ve got that special ingredient. It’s time to rejoice, because Greenleaf is back with “Agents of Ahriman.” Like their past releases, “Agents” is a righteous kick in the ass and a testament to the almighty riff. This time, Tommi and Bengt are joined by Oskar Cedermalm (Truckfighters) on vocals, Erik Bäckwall (Ex Dozer drummer) on drums, Jocke Åhslund (Payback) on Hammond organ, and a handful of guest appearances. This new lineup keeps Greenleaf moving forward without losing track of what made them great in the first place. Take note – this is what rock bands should sound like. Make way for the “Agents of Ahriman.”
Tommi Holappa – guitar
Bengt Bäcke – bass
Erik Bäckwell (ex-Dozer) – drums
Oskar Cedermalm (Truckfighters) – vocals
former members (more…)
Swedish Sunday – The Brimstone Days
Is it Sunday, already? It must be because here is this week’s Swedish Sunday feature. This week, we feature a band that have seen quite a bit of press here on The Soda Shop lately. This retro-rock trio has had their EP and their brand new, debut album reviewed as well as being this past Friday’s New Band To Burn One To. The band, of course, is The Brimstone Days, hailing from Malmö.
The Brimstone Days aim to be the live band with enough energy to get the listener and the audience caught up in an euphoric thrill. With clear influences from the 70’s and with catchy tunes, they deliver retro-rock with a modern twist to dance to.
As a fairly new band, they’ve already had to live through a line-up change with original bassist, Elias Dellow, leaving the band after they recorded their EP, Flowers and Rainbows. This was a hard thing to take for the remaining duo, but they soon found a new spark with the addition of their next and current bassist, Hampus Hallgard. With the addition, the band quickly reenergized to bring energy to their live show.
With the desire to bring the same sound and energy from their live shows to their studio releases, the band recorded and released their full-length debut, We Are the Brimstone Days, in October 2010. In their own words, We Are the Brimstone Days “is a mix from the new and the old with a strong feeling of the 70’s. Therefore, the music can be best described as modern retro-rock.” In other words, “Take the grove from funk, the ‘hell yeah’ from rock and the catchy from pop.”
Johannes – drums
Håkan – guitar and vocals
Hampe – bass and backing vocals
Self-released
- Float Away
- Confusion
- One Foot Taller
- Get it On
- Don’t Run
This album is a short one at 16 minutes. They are more along the lines of The Dragontears, Dollhouse or Baby Woodrose. They have a nice little garage rock sound to them.
– Bill Goodman, The Soda Shop
Self-released
- Intro
- Confusion
- Aim for the Sky
- Cookie Jar
- Get in Line
- Come On Come On (Let’s Get it On)
- Grand Theft of Time
- Sunset
- Electric Blue
- Float Away
- We Are the Brimstone Days
- The Story of The Brimstone Days [hidden track]
[T]his is a feel good album. It’s very happy and upbeat. It’s some of the finest garage rock you’ll hear ever. It’s something you can definitely listen to as you drive down the street, have some friends over or introduce to a friend that is still stuck on top 40 radio garbage.
– Bill Goodman, The Soda Shop
Swedish Sunday – The Crystal Caravan
The Crystal Caravan are probably Sweden’s best kept secret. Well guess what? The cats out of the bag. The gig is up! The secret is out, here’s The Crystal Caravan. They’re one of the best bands to come out of Sweden since Graveyard. They play some of the best classic rock music that you haven’t heard, yet. They’ve put out a self titled album in 2009 and a second followup album, Against The Rising Tide, is due this week (October 28th, 2010). The band is a 7 piece from Umeå, Sweden. Sometimes when you have bands that have more than 5 members yo question their quality and question if that may be enough. Seven is a lot, but they make it work and you’d think that this no more than a 4 piece. Fear not, kick ass rock and roll is here to stay and The Crystal Caravan are going to be the ones to hand it to you.
The Crystal Caravan is a seven-member rock band from Umeå, Sweden, and stands with one foot in sixties rock and the other on the moon. 2002 marks the start of the Crystal Caravan. Founders and guitarists Björn Lohmander and Stefan Bränberg are still in the band. The Crystal Caravan took it’s present form in 2006 with both organist Jonas Lindskold and percussionist Annika Bränberg joining forces. Bass player Pierre Svensson and vocalist Niklas “RG” Gustafsson joined the Crystal Caravan in 2005. Drummer Christopher Olsson was the last piece of the puzzle. The Crystal Caravan made it’s first German tour in February 2010. The highlight of the tour was a sweaty, memorable gig at White Trash in Berlin.
Niklas “RG” Gustafsson –Vocals
Björn Lohmander – Guitar
Stefan Bränberg – Guitar
Jonas Lindsköld – Organs
Pierre Svensson – Bass
Annika Bränberg – Percussion
Christopher Olsson – Drums
The Soda Shop 