Hellsingland Underground recently released their third album “Evil Will Prevail”. From the title one could almost expect some type of dark heavy metal, but it’s far from that. Instead it’s about uplifting rock with roots in southern rock and country rock. Well, it’s uplifting when it comes to the music but the singer Charlie Granberg’s lyrics don’t hold back when in comes to being cynical in describing the world he sees around himself. Dark and at the same time very personal.

I get the feeling of the band that continued playing while Titanic were sinking, which the band manifest already in the first song “Singing While the World Dies”. Even if they are faithful to their roots across the album, they give plenty of room for variation and exploration of some of the biggest rock influences from the seventies, where I hear Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Boston, powerpop, Americana and psykadelia in different songs. Listen for yourself in the Springsteen-vibing “You Shine the Dark Away” here below.

Hellsingland Underground’s site – on Facebook – on Spotify

You Shine the Dark Away

Today I’ve been spinning Leaders Off’s new album “Yr Band Suck” the whole day. And I will probably do that many times in the future because this was a great  album , in fact one of the best I’ve heard so far this year. Generalising I’d say that it’s airy indie rock with attitude, full of beautiful melodies and with a great dynamics both when it comes to the song arrangements as well as the album itself. A solid album with creative songwriting which grows with each listen.

Leaders Off’s site – on Facebook – on Spotify – on Bandcamp

Don’t Be Mean
Here Comes the Parents

Söder has played earlier with bands like Inferno, Åka Bil, Tuk Tuk Rally among others. Now he’s in the middle of his solo debut with a single that was recently released, “Vad ska du bli?”, and an album, “Exorcism”, scheduled for launch later this Autumn.

The single “Vad ska du bli?” has it’s name from the first track, which is a cover of Ebba Grön’s song. He performs a new, more quiet and excellent version of the song, which he says is one of his favourite songs throughout the years.

Since I normally avoid publishing covers here in the blog, I chose to publish the second one instead, “En sorgsen sång som gör mig glad” (“A sad song that makes me happy”); a song that I think is just as interesting. It’s an exquisite combination with Söder’s calm voice, the Swedish sadness and a “sorry-that-I-kicked-in-the-speaker-membrane”-guitar, where the guitar rips the sweet melancholy in the song to pieces.  And it makes me happy.

Söder on Facebook – on Spotify

En sorgsen sång som gör mig glad

I wrote about Knut Svanholm and his brother’s trio Fleet of Clay a couple of weeks ago. His main project, though, is the rock band LOBST where he sings, plays the guitar and writes songs. In the beginning of the Autumn they released their new album “The Angry Kid”, the second one since the start in 2009.

On the album they create their own rock hybrid where I hear British hard rock from  Mötorhead to Saxon as well as grunge and post grunge from the nineties. It’s a dense, guitar riff loaded and raw sound which goes hand in hand with Knut’s almost punky vocals. An album full of adrenaline and guitar candy which grows with each time I listen. Listen for yourself in a couple of tracks here below.

LOBST on Facebook – on Spotify

Downward Slope
The Watcher

Vacancy Labour, hailing from Linköping, who I presented last year with a song, released their debut album “Sakura, Sakura” in August. The album starts with the song “Roads”, smelling of arenas and with some Coldplay vibes. The songs that follow maintain to a large part that arena vibe and feels like a mix of indie rock influences from both today and yesterday.

It’s rather alternating between softer parts and more powerful grand parts, all with well-forged melodies. I get the feeling, when I listen, that there is a lo-fi-filter across the whole thing, like if someone were playing it to me on an old vinyl player. That’s fits quite well in a way with the melancholic ambience giving it a roughed-up feeling. What I do miss in the sound, though, is some more punch and bass, so it can really be felt. Listen for yourself in a couple of songs here below.

Vacancy Labours site – on Facebook – on Spotify

Diamonds In the Sky
Kid Named Venus