Could Skellefteå be the city that produces most bands with quality in Sweden? Well, Skumdum is another one of those. They say themselves that they are too much punk rock to be skaters and to much skaters to be punk rockers. In any case I think that they are perfect for a music lover.

Skumdum succeeds in a great way to combine the punk rock and rock with folk music (yes really), so that the result feels interesting and dynamic. I find influences in everything from Green Day, to Mano Negra. I also have a soft spot for the vocal adds, which makes it feel like singalong in the choruses.

The band sang in Swedish until around 2004-2005, but is now singing in English since they needed new challenges and also because they wanted to reach a bigger audience.

Skumdum has been around for 16 years and released 4 albums, where the latest one, “Two Sides of the Story”, will be released the 28-29 of November in Skellefteå. Below you’ll find a track from this album, “Proud Minority”, along with a couple of tracks from earlier albums.

A big disgrace:

Proud Minority
War Is Money

Skumdum on Myspace
Skumdum on Lastfm

Keep cool,
Jeppe

I really wish that I had experienced the classical concerts at CBGB in New York. Yes, I know that the club still exists, but I’m talking about the seventies with Ramones, Sex Pistols and Blondie. I also believe that The Headlines would have fit in perfectly there.

If you don’t know the Malmö band The Headlines, I can tell that it’s a band that tours frequently around Europe and that they recently have released their debut album “Plug ‘n’ Play”. They have toured with New York Dolls, The Levellers, Hanoi Rocks, to mention a few, and they started out in 2005!

The Headlines play a fascinating kind of rock, that sometimes can be compared with the early Green Day, and that’s brilliantly mixed with the sound of mandolins and saxophones.

The album is produced by Stry Terrarie (Ebba Grön, Kriminella Gitarrer), and is handled by the german label Radio Rebel Records!

Here you get a taste of the album “Plug ‘n’ Play”, with a few songs you can listen to and download:
All I Need
Let’s Get Together
With No One to Follow
You Gotta Go

Visit the band:
The official home page
On Myspace

(translated by Pär/Blindmen)