Hands back to the Keyboard « Coolgrrrls

Hands back to the Keyboard

Posted 25 February 2001 sweden@nite

So, I finally got my thumb out and my hands on the keyboard. There are so many other things that keep me busy that I forget all about writing about the rock, I just go see the rock and then head home.
Therefore, a bunch of bands will be forced together in the same update and there won´t be space enough for me to throw crap at all the kids that sit at home and whine about that there are never any great bands playing…(yeah, right, you can always count on me to throw crap…)

A couple of weeks ago, Club El Curado had their finest night up to date according to the happy bunch that were dancing their feet blue. The Neanderthals were visiting and were appreciated. They are what their name indicates; basic punkrockabilly stomp delivered by banditos in fake fur cloths. The singer was beating a drum with his club. The drummer looked like he was found out in the wild, raised by wolves.
In every song, you found bits and pieces that you had heard before, but you couldn´t put the finger on where and when.
You lend, you borrow, you steal and you deliver a show that everybody likes. Well, usually, you don´t cause it will be too obvious,but if you´re clever, you just steal fragments. That was what they had done and it was great. They were on for almost 1½ hour and didn´t want to get off stage. One of their final acts was “Go Little Camaro Go” and it was the best cover version of that song I have ever heard. Not much can top Debbie and Joey, but they did.
I have never heard about this band before, but they have released one record ” The Modern Stone Age Family” on Sundazed Records and they have members from Los Straitjackets.

Also at Mejeriet, Club Massattraction is holding court. Or, at least they were. . . As I have been nagging; you can´t sit at home in your expensive punkrock outfit complaining that no big punkrock bands play at your local club, if you don´t support it in the first place by going to the shows. It is simple. It is basic mathematics: if you go on a regular basis to the small gigs, paying an insignificant amount, you give the club a stable income. With a stable income and the knowledge that the club has a crowd, they can take a chance and book some of the big bands, like the Queers or the Donnas, without risking having to pay the loss with their rent money But, if you and all your cool friends just stay at home, nothing will happen and soon, the club will be no more. This is what happened to Club Massattraction. They got tired of working hard for free, trying to make a cool place where all the punkrockers and garagerockers could hang, when everybody was just to damn lazy to show up. So, if you don´t get what I am talking about and you call yourself a punk and have a DIY-badge on your jacket….Well, then take that badge off and start hanging in front of your MTV listening to Offspring and other bands who don´t have to think about every nickel they spend, cause you don´t know shit.

The last Massattraction show was with Demons and Stabb on stage. Demons were headlining and Stabb came for free, but I guess that Stabb had a bigger audience than Demons, at least that night. . . A couple of years ago they released a demo which was frequently played on Radio p3´s Musikjournalen Rock and one song, “Tired” was featured on the soundtrack to a Swedish high school movie, Välkommen till festen, and from that, they found quite an audience. I never heard much more from them, never saw them touring The only thing known was that they were still unsigned. Then, all of a sudden, they entered Mejeriet´s stage. Singer Belinda is basically what it´s all about. She has a voice that you remember and either you love it or hate it. A mix between Janis Joplin and Heather Nova. The music is also hard to define, but a mix between early Afghan Whigs and Serial Cynic, will do just fine. A lot of increasing and decreasing of the tempo. Not much of a wild stage show, even though the bassist gave it his best shot, but quite frenetic and captivating. Stabb have released one 7″, “Until Dawn Comes” and a self-titled full-length containing all previously released material. More info on Stabb is to be found at their websitehttp://www.stabb.fanglobe.com

If you go to archives here on Sweden@nite, you will see Demons once more, then from their gig at Gearfest Stockholm. I wrote something along the lines that I know nothing about them and that it felt just fine that way. . . And now, 6months later, I say the same. Not that there is something wrong with Demons, it´s just that it feels just fine not having all the unnecessary shit stuffed down your throat again and again. If you ever listen to Gearheads Radio,(paste location http://166.90.143.156:12834/ into your Real Player) there´s a big chance you have heard Demons. Both their full-length and their ep is released on Gearhead Records. On stage, they´re the cool cats. Not to many smiles, not too many moves. But they rock, they sure do and the look like they couldn´t care less if you think so. In a world of poseurs who´d do anything to get you stomping your feet and swinging your wallet chain, it´s quite refreshing with people who couldn´t give a damn. Straight forward punkrock, the same lane that Devil Dogs and Electric Frankenstein has gone down before them. For more info on Demons and some bite size sound files http://w1.825.telia.com/%7Eu82503079/

Everybody ( well, almost..) was staying quite calm and sober at the Massattraction night, cause we were heading for another show the night after. 69Hard and C-Men were playing at Stengade30 in Copenhagen. With it being 2 of my favorite bands, especially live, there was no way I would miss that because I was too hungover. 69hard have played at Stengade30 before and C-Men are almost at Ungdomshuset (rip) every other weekend, so we knew that they had a crowd there and it shouldn´t be all empty with just 3 girlfriends klapping. But, it seems like even the Copenhagen scene is getting smaller and smaller. A lot of the people I used to see at shows, have stopped going and there aren´t too many new faces. The trance-scene in Copenhagen is taking over (!?!) and directly after the show, the place turned into a trance-club and all the punkrockers ran down the stairs to the basement and the dressing room/backstage to hide. . . But, at least there was a punkrock-show and a stage for the bands to enter, so I guess we shouldn´t whine too much about it. 100 people paid to get in and it was a helluva show. Both bands have great singers who know how to make an audience paralyzed and get their way with it and skilled and soulful musicians. What could go wrong?! Nothing did. We saw naked skin, a drunken Danish humping an unwilling guitarist, heard all the hits and drank cheap beer….

So what else is up?! Well, tonight I am off to a Gluecifer show..and soon, the Burnouts will be opening for theHellacopters at Loppen in Copenhagen. The 1st of March is the date of the event. Gaza Strippers are at Loppen the 7th of March, the KnockUp on the 21st and the Queers on the 23rd. Seems like Loppen is regaining it´s old reputation as THE club in this area. Good. We have missed that.

On the 1st of March, Frank Black and the Catholics will be playing at KB in Malmö. On the 16th of March, theHives and the Savages will be playing at KB and the day after, Mazarine Street, a swedish poppier version of New Bomb Turks, will be playing at the same scene. Further down the road, the Donnas will finally be heading our way, but unfortunately, they have the poprock-brats of Sahara Hotnights as support for the entire European Tour. I don´t know if their management never heard Sahara Hotnights or if they want to be sure of that the Donnas will be the most kickass band on stage, but it´s a lousy choice if you ask me. Another thing worth waiting for, is the 1st of April, when Club El Curado at Mejeriet, is doing it again; they´re bringing Weeping Willows to Mejeriet. So, it seems like it might be a great spring.