I apologize for a rather slow week of blogging. I hope to put things in order again with a large dose of rock, coming from Killerball and their new EP “St. Epone”.

Killerball was formed already in 2003 when the members met on a high school trip. They then let the band develop slowly to find their own way and style. In 2009 they started writing songs for the album “St. Epone” with a “doesn’t-matter-if-it-sounds-new-or-old”-attitude and they entered their own studio to record the songs.

“St. Epone” was released in May and serves some great rock, full of energy. They mix styles but still manage to maintain their own character throughout the album; from messy garage rock’n’roll and hard rock to vibes of alternative rock and some post grunge. Listen for yourself here below.

You can listen to the all the tracks on Killerball’s site, Facebook page or on Spotify.

Force Fed
I Can’t Find It

Here’s a video with the Killerball guys conquering Spain…

While Giants Sleep started out a year ago and this summer they released their self-titled debut EP. They have their base in Eslöv, Sweden, but the five members have also roots in Norway, Iceland, Finland and Chile.

Musically I find the roots, though, on the other side of The Atlantic Ocean; in post rock,  progressive rock and indie rock. It’s a collection of five well built songs where they paint a rather dark ambience together with the fateful lyrics. A very interesting debut that promises a lot for the future.

You can find While Giants Sleep on their site, on Facebook and on their Bandcamp page you can both listen and download the EP for free.

Wyatt Earp

Leanids, hailing from Västerås, recently released their debut album, “Under the Leanids”. It’s a pleasant, laidback production which makes me think of soft rock from the beginning and the middle of the seventies with some indie vibes and an ounce of Ryan Adams.

Listen here below to two songs from the album and listen more on Spotify or on Soundcloud. You can follow Leanids on Myspace and on Facebook.

Flying
Rewind/Forward

Magnus Fagernäs has quite some experience from the music biz.  After being member in bands like Pinballs, Bombi Bitt et al, he handled the drumsticks in Dead Scouts, Traste Lindéns kvintett, Perssons Pack and Atomic Swing. One day he tired of it all and left the stage to focus on other things.

10 years later he was persuaded to join the band Little Red Snapper, he regained his passion for music and started to write songs. The result was a debut album as a solo artist under the name Mankku [mancko]. The album was released last month and is called “Festen har bara börjat” (“The party has just begun”).

It’s an album that grows each time I listen and the more I give it attention. And this is also the case with Mankkus bright, dramatic vocals that little by little put new layers of meaning to the stories. I like the arrangements which are tastefully “less is more”-produced, and gives an extra fateful and mellow feeling to the ambience.

It’s a varied album where he blends pop, rock, country and folk. In a way it feels in the end like something born out of the deep nordic woods, in the stories, in the blackness and in the folk sounds that shine through. Well, I’d love to party on with Mankku [mancko].

You can listen to the album on Spotify and you can find Mankku on his site and on Facebook. Here’s “Väskan” (“The bag”):

Väskan

Earlier Fredrik Johansson was songwriter and guitarist in the hard rock band Link and later in Laguna Stardust. After a life crisis in 2005 he decided to step forward and grab the microphone, first as a singer in the band Exil, then in Riket and now as a solo artist under the name Karl Fredrik. Last month he released the solo debut album “Ingenstans Man” (“Nowhere Man”).

It’s an even and good album, but rather varying, especially in the verses where he moves from americana-influenced songs to eighties retro to Kent-vibing ambiences, while the refrains often ends up in a grand rock crescendos. Interesting self-revealing lyrics carried by a voice with just the right blackness.

You can find Karl Fredrik on his site and on Facebook. Listen more on Spotify.

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