“Pop in 110 mph” my collegue Jesper described the music of Industri Royal, as he presented Industri Royal last summer. The 28th of January Industri Royal will release their notified debut album “Tacky Skills” (Alleycat Records), and after having listened beforehand, I find that there’s no reason to change Jesper’s overall description.

Even if it doesn’t feel retro in the sound, I would like to add the vibes of Ramones, New Wave and sometimes even the Rolling Stones of the seventies (before the disco period) and surf pop to the description. It’s a great album, full of energy, and I’m certain that no one that has heard Industry Royal before will be disappointed.

“Location Location Location” was in our earlier post, and here you get another song from “Tacky Skills”, “The Beat Boy”. Other brilliant songs are “I Can Keep a Secret” and “Lie Lie Lie”. The release party takes place the 23 of January at Scharinska in Umeå. Go there and be part of the nice euphoria in a record release. Read more about it on Industri Royal’s site and on their Myspace page.

The Beat Boy

Baron Bane is a band that wants to challenge the concepts of what a band is and how you relate to a band’s music. Baron Bane is the fictitious front figure and also the leader of the band and the one that sets the direction of the music.

Maybe this is most obvious seen live, where the band, which consists both of musicians and graphic artists, try to give an audiovisual experience to the audience and move some boundaries. An example of this a while ago, was when they performed with prerecorded lead vocals, instead of the other way around!

In November they released an EP with the song “Love.Cure.All”, accompanied by four remixes of the song, made by Sophie Rimheden, Tony Senghore and others. Here you can listen to the suggestive titel track, electronica and pop with massive synths, and also to a remix by Sophie Rimheden.

If you visit Baron Bane’s site you can download the entire EP fro free, and you can also go to Baron Bane on Myspace to listen more.

Love.Cure.All
Love.Cure.All (Sophie Rimheden remix)

Kaka, or Rickard Karlsson which is his real name, started his career in Tambureens as a singer guitarist and songwriter. After this followed a few years in the band The Mo, and after the band’s breakup in 2005 he is now going solo under the name Kaka.

Kaka’s debut album (Despotz Records) was released last year in Sweden and you can get a taste from his energetic pop here below. If you want to listen more you can visit Kaka on Last.fm and on Myspace.

The Hotspurs:

What a Frame

It feels liberating to listen to Apoteket Apan. Even with lyrics somtimes loaded with anxiety (or maybe because of that?), that is how I feel. Musically liberating, where they seem to be able to take on anything with ease, and still maintain a feeling for what this band is about. Maybe it’s Jonas Furberg’s characteristic, intense vocals or the brilliant lyrics or the attitude that does it.

It’s often indie pop with a punk attitude, sometimes dance inspiring, often fascinating and with a nice drive and they have that great sense of creating the musical and lyrical hooks that stick in my mind. They use guitars, synths, brass, choirs and whatever the songs seem to demand. Musical fantasy at it’s best, fun, liberating.

Apoteket Apan has a great site (in Swedish) where you can listen to and download all their music. If you like the band you should also follow their blog (also in Swedish) , where they present new tracks, new videos and tell you what is going on.

Two of the songs below, “Processen, Livet, Byråkratin” and “Ska det vara så svårt då?”, come from their latest EP “Det är något med den där ödsligheten”, while “En annan plats” is a singel that was released last summer.

Zinkensdamm (from “Det är något med den där ödsligheten”)

Processen, Livet, Byråkratin
Ska, det vara så svårt då?
En annan plats

I’m enwrapped in a very nice sound as I listen to Six Figure Transatlantic. Their americana-tasting pop reminds me of  Neil Young and CSN&Y from the early seventies, and in the close acoustic feeling that’s present I can almost sense the presence of Damien Rice. In some songs the early Radiohead knocks on my shoulder. Soft, pleasant, really good songs, well, really worth listening to.

The songs here give a taste of their forthcoming debut album, which will be released this spring. They have earlier released a couple of EP:s, which you can listen to at their site. The EP “Movers & Shakers” you’re also invited to download for free. You’ll also find Six Figure Transatlantic on Myspace.

Pink Heart
A Storm Is Coming
Isabel