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03/08/2024
Honor Roll Of Hits
Honor Roll Of Hits Punk Rock Theory
 on
Tuesday, January 30, 2024 - 17:28
submitted by
Thomas

Swedish independent label Lövely Records proudly presents 'Honor Roll of Hits’; a four-way vinyl split set for release on March 8, 2024. For this special release, they've collaborated with four incredible bands signed to the label. Each band has contributed their own unique, fresh material. This vinyl release features four EPs: 'Split Image' by Sweet Teeth, 'A Fair Warning' by First in Line, 'Culture of Death' by Statues, and 'GASP' by GASP.

Patrik, Co-Founder Lövely records on 'Honor Roll of Hits’:

"With this 4-way split we kind of sum up the essence of Lövely Records. This represents the feeling and the background of our musical taste. Being an adolescent in the nineties, punk, hardcore, indiepop, grunge and alternative rock was a big part of everything around. I came from a more metal background but with the growing punk/hardcore scene in the area I got caught in the DIY culture and a more politicized approach for music. These 4 bands ticks all my boxes in their own unique way.

I kind of missed out on the first Statues album, which bothers me. When I heard their second album I knew we had to do it. The members of Statues has boiled down all the energy, melody and ”hit potential” from their previous bands and made something really unique. With a hardcore/punk heart mixed up with alternative rock from the -90s they have really found a sound that fits my inner soul.

The first time I heard GASP I was totally blown away. So punk, so pure, so angry. The track ”Lose It” is in my ears a superhit. It hit me like the first time I heard Spitboy or Detestation, not that they sound the same but the feeling of that sheer anger and frustration. GASP have got melody, anger and attitude to boost! Looking forward to see them live, I’m sure they will knock me out.

Finspång is close to Lövely’s head quarter in Linköping (my hometown) and I have had my eyes on the members previous bands a long time, most of those bands have been harder and I really enjoy them all, but with Sweet Teeth these guys have really found my soft spot and nail it with every song. Sweet Teeth capture the spirit and sound from favorite bands as Hüsker Dü and Dinosaur JR, but still manage to keep their own take on their powerpop and making it relevant for the 2020:s.

LKPG HC finest! First In Line (F.I.L) has been flying the flag of fast, melodic hardcore since forever. I saw them the first time about 30 years ago and they still blow my mind every time. Growing up as a punk here, these guys were role models and inspiration and through the years they became friends and comrades. Always relevant and angry lyrics about all the shit going on around us."

Sweet Teeth

Sweet Teeth, perfect smile and raw beauty. Behind it all we find a bittersweet blend of catchy, punky, fuzzy power pop and ’90s inspired alternative rock. Small town dreams expressed through noisy guitars, sugar sweet melodies, and honest, straightforward lyrics. Sweet Teeth sounds like Hüsker Dü mixed with The Flamin' Groovies, Ramones mixed with Big Star or even The Hellacopters mixed with Dinosaur Jr. Hailing from the rural parts of Sweden, the members of Sweet Teeth have played in bands such as The Deadbeats, Disfear, Dollhouse, Year Of The Goat, Tortyr, and The Dontcares. Together they find a perfect blend of musical history.

Sweet Teeth released the debut, 7 track mini-album ”Acid Rain” in 2021 which immediately received praise from both fans and media. Classic Rock Magazine called the album ”a brutal, scintillating mush of frill-free Scandinavian power-pop aggression that calls to mind Hüsker Dü at their most angst-driven and impatient”, and the track ”My Heart is Big and Broken” was dubbed the ”Coolest Song in the World'' by Little Steven (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band) on his show The Underground Garage. ”Acid Rain” was later nominated for best punk record of the year at the Swedish indie awards Manifestgalan.

Despite the pandemic working against them, Sweet Teeth has during their relatively short career played several explosive live shows, sharing stages with bands such as Millencolin, Hurula, Freedom, and Märvel. The four-piece released their second studio album ”High Anxiety”during the autumn of 2022.

First in Line

First in Line originally started out as Prehistoric in the spring of 1988 with Timor Tanriverdi on drums, Jörgen Sjöström on guitar, Stefan Angeltorp on vocals and Errol Tanriverdi on bass. After a couple of years Stefan quit and Henrik Hane started on vocals. In addition, Nikola Rasic joined as solo guitarist and so Prehistoric continued until 1993 when Nils Javefors took hold of the microphone. Prehistoric released a Split CD with Allena in 1993 and appeared on various compilation albums until 1996 when the band changed singer again, this time Niklas Gunrin and at the same time changed their name to First In Line. In 1998 Errol took over the vocals in connection with the release of the first single I Know (Bridge of compassion) and in 1999 the single Backside LKPG/F.I.L was released (Bridge of compassion).

In 2000 the band took a break that lasted until 2008 when it was time to grab the gear again. Patric Lind joined on bass and since then the band has played gigs around Sweden and released the records In the land of filth and honey, ...We are watching, and Wake up!

So what's the point? F.I.L is rooted in American hardcore, because that's what we grew up with and love, the raw, fast, no-frills, energy explosion. F.I.L are so pissed off at all injustice and stupidity, we have to get it out of our heads and into the songs that we hope will hit right in the heart of you who listen, who can turn up the will to fight and maybe also be a tiny cog in a machinery that can change the world.

GASP

GASP started out in 2018 when three 30+ women from the DIY-culture, picked up some instruments for the very first time and learned how to play and create music. The music that came out was noisy and distorted with a hint of pop rock riffs that bring you songs with a lot of attitude and energy. Gina (guitar, vocals) and Daniella (drums) started the band in 2017 and was joined by Emma (bass, vocals) in 2018 when GASP fully took shape. After a few years of hard work in the rehearsal room GASP made their presence known in the punk community in 2021 when they released a string of well received singles, a video for the song Gut That Living Thing and also did their first live shows together with Gluer and Diakron.

Daniella sadly decided to leave the band early 2022 to give time to other interests which led GASP to temporarily join forces with Ulf Blomberg (Hoborec, Grace Will Fall). Ulf is now banging the drums until Agustina Etcheto is ready to take over the sticks. Agustina is, in true GASP-spirit, just learning how to play drums and you will probably see her on stage later this year!

With 5 songs in the backpack they are eager to release some new material which will come for you sooner than you think!

Statues

90’s Alternative Rock was never anything else then great pop-songs filtered through screaming guitars. The Swedish based power trio Statues can be filed under your typical SST band. Simple, impulsive, eccentric, and just wonderful. They could be that third band that played somewhere in the midwest together with Hüsker Dü and Sonic Youth during the late ’80s. Rock has perhaps never been this catchy. Statues are a tornado on a collision course with your hometown.

The indie-rock outfit Statues from Umeå, Sweden has a dense stubbornness as their musical trademark. At the same time, there is unobtrusive security and a sense of dynamics in the group's tasteful association of tantrum noises and winding melodies. Much of the establishment is unmistakably bottled in an indie-rock and post-punk North American-style tradition, and aesthetic threads of origin are related to a young and hungry Hüsker Dü as well as legendary alternative labels like SST and Dischord.

The trio has been playing together in different constellations since 1991. The red thread throughout the years is that everything has become more and more intense and angry for each year. During the years the members have been heard through bands such as Starmarket, KVLR, and The Vultures. In 2018 everything culminated at the start of Statues. The same year debut album "Adult Lobotomy” was released through German label Crazysane Records. The furious and straightforward expression of the high-intense debut album made it sold out in no time.

”In music it’s a rare balance to successfully blend politics and fun, aggression with melody. Drawing on some of my fave post-punk influences and classic rock grooves,  Statues debut Adult Lobotomy walks a line like Phillippe Petit across the sky between Twin Towers, gracefully subversive.” /Walter Schreifels (Quicksand, Rival Schools, Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits)

In 2020 Statues released their second album “Holocene” on Lövely Records. The band wrote over 40 songs and all of them were short, fast, and extremely intense. The band recorded 11 songs in just three hours. It was the first time in the history for Sandås Silence Studio to repay a band for pre-booked studio time. The entire album was mixed and mastered by Christian Ramirez.

The lyrics and artwork were made before the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. Although the lyrics give hints of threatful viruses, sinkholes, and total environmental collapse. Perhaps we should borrow the crystal ball from Statues, or just accept that the band already is a part of the future. As best we can know, Statues might very well be the future

Statues began writing and recording new material in 2021. Johan Sellman had written over 20 new songs in just a couple of months and after a couple of covid quarantines the band could finally enter "Svenska Grammofonstudion" in Gothenburg together with producer Christian Ramirez. The new album was mainly recorded live in a furious tempo during 5 days. Doing an album in that short amount of time requires no second guessing, everything that was played ended up on tape, including the bands’ energy and stubbornness.