Maybe it was dreams about playing at the biggest arenas, or maybe it was the songs that demanded it. In any case,  Molotov Jive hailing from Karlstad, went to California and to the star producer Sylvia Massy to record their third album “Storm”.

They recorded in February last year and recently, in March, they released the album. And there’s no doubt that this is pop and rock made for the big arenas. Such an ambition can easily end up in a big yawn, if you can’t back it up with energy, personality and great songs, but I don’t think that they fall into any pits here, and that they have created a really good album.

It’s grand and full of energy, first of all in the first half of the album, until they slow it down with the most quiet song on the album “Just Leave”, giving us a well-needed break before they speed up again .The feeling is a bit like U2 when they are as most energetic but with a darker post punk vibe from the late eighties as the foundation. The songs that sticks the most with me is “Friendship”, which you can listen to and download here below, and “Manhattan”.

And of course. How did they come up with the name Molotov Jive? They write that they wanted a band name that felt explosive, something that signaled fire. “We thought that it should be ‘like dancing on fire.’ Do the Molotov Jive”.

You can listen to the album on Spotify and on Wimp. Follow them on Facebook and on their site.

Friendship

It’s been two years since I wrote about them, and then they called themselves The Berndt. They have now grown by adding a letter and becoming Theo Berndt but first of all they have a new album brewing, which is going to be released in the end of May. It’s called “F.E.A.R.S.” and as the name suggests, it’s about exactly that, fears. Here’s a first single from the upcoming album: “Supersized”.

You can follow the band on Facebook.  On Spotify and on Soundcloud you can listen to the entire single, which also includes three remixes.

Supersized

Drivvedsfolket, hailing from Norrköping, write that they have developed their sound inspired by artists like Arctic Monkeys, Pugh Rogefeldt, The Black Keys, Florence Valentin, The Kinks et. al. They show this on their latest EP “Vilket Gäng! (“What a gang!”), which you can taste a song from here below. They sing in Swedish and sure, I do get associations from Pugh Rogefeldt as I listen, but also from Bob Hund, Arctic Monkeys and sixties’ rock, which all in all make a special mix.

The band started out in 2009 and sang originally in English. Then they called themselves Driftwood People, suggesting that they were carefree people, living for the day. That was actually an irony, as they claim to be a bunch of nervous and long-winded individuals.
When they later on started using Swedish in their songs, they simply translated the band name directly, creating a new Swedish word. So now you know what drivvedsfolk means in Swedish. Maybe.

You can listen to Drivvedsfolket on Spotify, on Wimp and on Drivvedsfolket’s Facebook page.

En jättetuff tid

The duo Kids, with the two members Jonas Linngård and Maria Pettersson, took the band name as a tribute to MGMT and their song with the same name. I haven’t listened that much to MGMT, but it’s quite obvious that they have been an inspiration for Kids, where they move in the same music area of pop electronica with nice and efficient melodies.

Kids recently released their debut EP with five songs, a really good EP full of nice melodies and hooks. It’s quite dynamic and airy, with a clear “less is more”-vibe in the arrangements. It doesn’t hurt either that the EP starts with the irresistible guitar figure and intro to the song “My Sincerest Apologies” which drags you right into the album.

You can download the album for free on Kontroll Recordings’ site and listen on Soundcloud, Wimp or Spotify. Follow the band on Facebook.

My Sincerest Apologies
Two Hearts Forever

Leo August is an artist who recently released a two-track single, produced by Johan Forsman in Göteborg. It’s two songs soaked with vibes from the seventies and folk inspired pop. I liked the first track best, “Lady Overseas” with the strong chorus and choirs. Listen for yourself here below.

You can liste to both songs and follow Leo August on his site.

Lady Overseas