This week I’m starting with a tip about the band RA, hailing from Malmö, and their debut album “Scandinavia”, which was released in March. RA is exploring the darkest corners of post punk with massive guitars and an ominous atmosphere. This is for those who are not afraid of screaming guitars that jump out of the speakers threatening with chaos and doom. Here are two songs from the album:

RA’s site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp

Tomorrow The Leather Nun are releasing the anticipated album “Whatever”, the first album in 24 years. In the eighites the band was the coolest thing you could see on a stage, where they performed a dark, pumping, punk-inspired rock, at least the way I remember them. The first single “Just Like a Dream” from February, was a great track and contained both heavy rock and dreamy parts with strings, so I was quite curious which way the the album would take us.

Whatever starts out, though, with a heavy, raw rock’n’roll, massive guitars and a dark ambience which makes me understand that Jonas Almqvist and company are not going to compromise for a second. Various references pass through my mind as the songs pull off in different directions, like the spririt of both Tom Waits and New Orleans in “Red Hot Gwen”, David Bowies “Beauty and the Beast”-album in “Outside My Window” and Lou Reed’s seventies-rock in for example “Star”. Everything cooked over an open fire together with post punk vibes and hard, dark, rough rock. My favourite song is probably the fifth track “Godtherapy”, which manages to trigger the tempo even more, serving us the most interesting arrangement on the album and a sense of glammy hard rock. On the three finishing tracks they slow things down from the Lou Reed-tinged ballad “For the Love of Your Eyes” to the beautiful but a bit ominous “Another Rainy Day” to the ending track “Candyass” which ties it all together with a guitar explosion as the album’s final comment.

It’s an excellent album which arrives at a good time as the interest in dark rock, post punk, noise rock seems to be on the rise these days. This is not just a one-time stunt according to Jonas Almqvist; you’ll be able to see then band on stage soon, and the next album is already being planned. And yes, I do want to hear more from them. Here’s “Outside My Window”:

The Leather Nun on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp

Here’s an album that was released in February, but which I didn’t have time to write about then. But you can’t miss this, because this is one of the best rock album I’ve heard so  far this year, namely Grande Roses’ second album “Built On Schemes”.

Again they show us a dark, dense postpunk based rock, and even if they have polished off some of the post punk in the sound and the most heated anger from the debut album “Disease“, the sharpness and the furious energy is still there. The songs feel overall stronger and with a larger variation, and finally I can replace “Radio Heartbreak”, which has been spinning in my head since the last album, with the new “Ambulance”. Here are some songs:

Grande Roses’ site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp

Last Friday the band It’s For Us released the single “Wish Things Were Better” from their upcoming EP. This is postpunk at it’s best to me, dark, echoing, energetic and punkish. Together with the single they also released a music video starring the dancer Dennis Vera.

It’s For Us on Facebook – on Spotify – on Soundcloud

A bit surprising The Leather Nun has released a new single, “Just Like a Dream”, after 25 years of  release silence. And not only that, in April the new album “Whatever” will be released. Exept from the drummer Gert Claesson they have gathered the same band as before with Jonas Almqvist behind the microphone, complemented with Michael Blair (Lou Reed, Tom Waits) on drums. The album also includes guest appearances by guitarist Carlos Sepúlveda from Psycore and the Brooklyn bass player Jeff Virgo.

How do they sound then? Well, damn great actually. They sound just like I remember them in my head, dark, heavy, postpunk and with Jonas Almqvists cool voice apparently unnaffected by the long break. In fact, as I update myself on the old recordings again, I can say that they sound even better now, like post punk should sound today, but still making a connection to the first album “Lust Games” rather than their later records. Listen here below:

The Leather Nun on Facebook – on Spotify – on Wimp