Can you believe it? Not only will we be lucky to have the one Swedish twee pop band, but actually two of them will be on these shores next week! Hooray! The cute tune peddlers areKomonand Stars in Coma. I’ve never heard of Komon before, but judging from their Myspace page, they’re a pretty average twee band who might be good live. Twee live is always a bit risky! Stars in Coma have been around for a few years, but I’ve never been able to get into them, although I’ve liked the odd song. Anyway, both these bands are playing a Spiral Scratch night at Betsey Trotwood next week on Thursday (with two English bands). Tickets can be bought here. Komon are also playing a couple more London shows + a Brighton one. Betsey Trotwood is so tiny, it can be quite charming to watch bands there. Who knows - I might just go!
Here are the dates:
Komon + Stars in Coma Thursday 4 September – Betsey Trotwood, London
Komon Saturday 6 September – RoTa at Notting Hill Arts Club, London
Saturday 6 September – Somewhere in Kings Cross, London
Sunday 7 September – Indiepop Sunday, Upstairs at the Prince Albert, Brighton
Such a great album! Such an amazing band! Mark Beaumont is nuts.
/S
By Stop Us Not On 21 August 2008 At 6:10 pm
You bet it Sounds Like Violence in London in October!
Ok, so I haven't written anything here for a week. Not because I've been lazy (no way, José!) but because there haven't been anything really interesting to write about. The Swedish UK invasion seems to have taken a bit of holiday! Now things are starting to happen again (phew!). Sweden's best (currently operating) rock band are coming to London for a couple of shows. I'mof coursetalking aboutSounds Like Violence! Sounds Like Violence consist of 3/4 the same members as the migty Niccokick (who I wrote about here), but have a heavier and more punk-like sound. I remember buying the first SLV EP "The Pistol" that came out on Deep Elm in 2004 and loving it like crazy, but then I had to wait bloody 3 years for the album to come out! Argh! Fortunately it looks like the wait for the new album won't be that long. Oh yeah, last year's album "With blood on my hands" was great, but it somehow disappeared and SLV didn't become the behemoths of rock that they deserved to be. I would strongly urge you to see them when they come over in October, because when I saw them at Borderline last time around they were here, it was so good I almost wept.
Next week an unknown Swedish band are playing some unknown London venues.
Have you heard about a band called The Sonnets? Apparently they're playing London next week at such famous venues as Teddy Flynn's, The Miller and The Spice of Life. Huh? Double huh? I don't know about any of those places. I can't even find Teddy Flynn's on Google! The Millers seems to be a pub around London Bridge, and The Spice of Life is that weird pub sort of in between Old Compton Street, Charing Cross Road and Shaftsbury Avenue that's got jazz nights in the basement. The Sonnets themselves released an album in 2005 to no critical acclaim. It's not super bad, just a bit boring, it sounds like The Thrills, Hal etc + Swedish indie pop from the 90s - ie not that ... "fresh"! I really don't feel like going to any of those venues though, not that I'm a venue snob, but after listening to the band on their Myspace page I doubt it'll be any good. My sister's seeing them at a Swedish festival next week though so if she gives them the thumbs up I might change my mind.
Ok, it's a bit lazy to compare I'm from Barcelona to Arcade Fire just because they both have crazy live shows and lots of band members, except for those for things they're quite far apart. Another thing they have in common is that I used to be a massive fan of both bands, whereas I now have lost a bit of interest. My disinterest in I'm from Barcelona started after I saw them live a couple of times. I really like them on record, but live I just find them annoying. Perhaps they're better now, who knows! They're coming over here in November for a few shows. When I just now listened to "Britney" from last year , I was reminded that they do actually write good songs (check it out below). Maybe I'll go and see them to investigate if they've become less of a circus and more of a band. Here are the dates:
Monday 24 November - The Ruby Lounge, Manchester Tuesday 25 November - Scala, London Wednesday 26 November - Concorde 2, Brighton
All respect to Familjen* (aka Johan T Karlsson) who makes pretty sweet electropop. It's a bit too "techno" for myself, but I can very much see the appeal. I do like his hit "Det snurrar i min skalle" from last year though and I might even buy his album and give it a chance. Who knows, maybe it'll make me get into this type of music. At least he sings! That's a start. I've seen him live twice, and he gets a fantastic reaction from the crowd and both gigs were a lot of fun. He seems to have that same crazy (Swedish) fanbase around him that Slagsmålsklubben's got. I also adore the dialect he sings in (ie "Skåne dialect", which heralds from south of Sweden and is traditionally frowned upon by people from other parts of Sweden since it's considered to be something of a farmers' dialect. I disagree though! I've spent lots of time in Skåne and both my sisters have lived there for a long time now - I love it!). Also, since the gig is around the corner from where I live, I might just go and sway back and forth at the end of the room, sipping some beer,
One website says that Familjen are playing at Old Blue Last on 17 and 18 September whereas another only lists 18 ... confusing!
17 September 2008 - Old Blue Last, London (so this might not be correct!) 18 September 2008 - Old Blue Last, London - tickets here
