For Those About To Rock...Sweden Salutes You!
For most of us, psychedelic rock means Jimi Hendrix and Arthur's Lee's Love, or perhaps Iron Butterfly's "In A Gadda Da Vida" and Frijid Pink's "House Of The Rising Sun." Cream's Disraeli Gears, Pink Floyd's Ummagumma and The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators are other bellwethers in psychedelic history. Whatever your psychedelic flavor, one thing's for sure: it's an English or American pursuit. Right? Well, beyond narrow-minded Anglo-American-isms, ancient psychedelia has also recently birthed a European strand in the current home of blitzkrieg pop trends, Sweden.
"There was a great [psychedelic] underground in Sweden in the ‘70s," says Gustav Ejstes, whose band, Dungen, draws from a wealth of seemingly prehistoric Swede-psy sources. [This reporter spoke with Ejstes for Boston's Boston Phoenix late last year.] Pugh Rogefeldt, Älgarnas Trädgård, Samla Mammas Manna, Kebnekaise, Bo Hansson, and International Harvester were underground psychedelic bands in '60s and '70s Sweden; their sound lives on in Dungen.
"One of the best Swedish bands was called Baby Grandmothers," Ejstes exults. "They were an amazing trio that existed for a year or two. And I like ‘60s heavy metal bands from all over the world that no one knows about. A band from Argentina called Aguaturbia. Like Black Sabbath in Argentina. Amazing records. But now I just have my head full of hip-hop."
Well, while Ejstes' has gone to seed with banal hip-hop, Sweden's Graveyard is taking up his slack. Graveyard's self-titled Tee Pee release fuses blast furnace psychedelia with seminal metal influences ala Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer. Produced in all-analog glory by Don Ahlsterberg (Soundtrack Of Our Lives, the International Noise Conspiracy, José Gonzalez), Graveyard dumps dayglow trash on your head while ripping out your lungs with a Satan-inspired cleaver.
"Thin Line" begins with a scorching swing feel not unlike Jethro Tull's classic Benefit or This Was, lead vocalist Joakim Nilsson wailing like an impassioned Chris Cornell. The track buckles and bruises, emitting more blues rock animosity than metal bombast, but its retro tendencies make it all the more endearing. The groove is hypnotic, the melody delicious, Joakim Nilsson's vocals carrying the torch of '70s rock with serious stoner tendencies.
"As The Years Pass By, The Hours Bend" is equally bluesy and ballsy, a strutting intro of marching snare drum and surly riff-tastic guitars giving way to a swelling big beat. Think the Zombies, Steppenwolf, Jimi Hendrix and Quicksilver Messenger Service. As Joakim Nilsson sings, "this can't be denied!"
Graveyard
"Thin Line" (mp3)
from "Graveyard"
(Tee Pee Records)
More On This Album
Graveyard "As the Years Pass by, the Hours Bend" (mp3)
from "Graveyard"
(Tee Pee Records) More On This Album
Portishead return, metal heads intact: Bristol trip hoppers Portishead are set to release their third album, Third. Believe it or not, these zombie mopers are also fans of rock in all its heavi-osity, citing metal molten heads Sunn O))) and Earth as big influences. What that in mind, receive another dose of ‘70s stoner rock with Earthless' "Godspeed."
Earthless "Godspeed" (mp3)
from "Earthless - Godspeed (Edit)"
(Tee Pee Records) More On This Album
