Sweden: The Country That Helped Save Rock ‘N’ Roll

It’s around 1996. The Seattle music scene is going into its echo phase of impact. As such, the general alternative scene is losing force and any compelling identity of the early ’90s. The following year Soundgarden would announce their dissolution. This gives more space for Nu-Metal bands to move into and hold court. You either loved these bands or hated them. Put me in the latter camp. The sound was too shiny and too bright.

There was, at least for me, no dirt, grease, or sand. I say these things literally.

While almost all my Gen X friends were already lamenting the end of one of the greatest eras in rock music, I was not.

Well, I was lamenting. Just not that.

Like thousands around the world, I mourned the end of Kyuss the previous year. The disbelief was only amplified by the band disbanding mere months after the release of their last album. Luckily, I had fallen down the early rabbit hole of stoner/doom rock with bands like those, Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu, and Sleep.

I was more than immune from the parched environment for rock ‘n’ roll during this time. I had moved on. Three of my favourite albums of all time were released around this period.

Dopes To Infinity by Monster Magnet and In Search Of… by Fu Manchu.

That’s only two. The third one became kind of a rabbit hole within a rabbit hole. If that sounds like it is going to be confusing, it’s only deliriously more so today. So much, that I had to write a whole 400+ page book about it.

But, it’s the third album and the second rabbit hole that needs the world’s attention.

This would be Sweden and the band The Hellacopters, and specifically the album Supershitty To The Max. The live version of Born Broke from that album should be put in a time capsule. It captures the band playing Exile On Main Street era Stones boogie with Stooges’ Funhouse urgency.

And up until then, the only bands I knew out of this Scandinavian country were ABBA and Entombed, and, I loved both of them equally. Although if I hear Entombed’s Crawl, I am going to be more (slam) Dancing Queen.
Discovering The Hellacopters through the now defunct but ridiculously important label, Man’s Ruin, led me on a rock ‘n’ roll journey–still continuing today with even more purpose–through the land of Sweden.

In my opinion, Sweden has been the unsung country that saved rock ‘n’ roll in the form of stoner/doom/garage. Let me take you on that journey!

Man’s Ruin also led me to Dozer, specifically their split with Unida–one of the best split albums ever made. Seeing Dozer at RippleFest in Austin play Calamari Sidetrip actually made me shed a tear, knowing that Dozer went on to become one of the greatest bands from this scene.

Dozer and The Hellacopters came on the scene around the same time. It is with zero fuckin’ coincidence that both bands are not only still here but releasing new music of the highest quality.

Leave a mark. Judging by everything that came out this century from Sweden, both bands sure did–and continue to do so.

One of the bands that has a close relationship with The Hellacopters is the band Backyard Babies because guitarist Dregen–a cross between Johnny Thunders and Tracii Guns–has spent time in that band as well. Pure garage/punk at its finest.

Around the year 2000, I discovered Spiritual Beggars through their album Ad Astra. No surprise they were formed in the early ’90s. Their sound felt like it was more bottom-heavy Deep Purple. What’s not to like there?

Stuff was coming fast and furious. While I was a few years late, I still feel lucky discovering Greenleaf around this time. A band that was formed in 1999 as a side project with half the Dozer crew. Both bands are still going strong. Of course they are.

The first decade of the new century produced a flurry of great Swedish bands–Awesome Machine, Astroqueen, Asteroid, Atomic Church, Blind Dog, Deville, Graveyard, Lowrider, Misdemeanor, Mugwumps, Roachpower, The Sewergrooves, Sparzanza, and Zebulon. I bought so many of these albums through the now-defunct label MeteorCity.

There was so much going on at this time in just Sweden alone that it was inevitable that a band would slip through the cracks. Sure enough, it did. I caught up with them almost ten years after they formed. Easily one of the best live bands on the planet.

I saw them at RippleFest, and I had to tap out before their set was over. I was just overwhelmed by them. My body could not produce any more endorphins. Multiply the live performance below by a factor of 10.

The Swedish bands just rock out with an organic purity and delivery that just keeps levelling up, giving new bands a high standard to keep up with. A case in point was the already mentioned Sewergrooves. Just badass boogie with a hint of The White Stripes.

Hot damn. We’re not even in the second decade of this century. If they wanted to, Sweden could have put its legs up on a nice recliner and retired from producing grade-A rock music. They didn’t.

Which means I didn’t.

One of the most notable bands that ushered in the next generation of Swedish greatness were Blues Pills. Led by the incomparable Elin Larsson, the band has only gotten better with age both in the studio and on stage.

Then, at the almost other end of the spectrum, was Yuri Gagarin, an instrumental band that is the gold standard for intense space rock.

With bands like Maha Sohano and JIRM arriving on the scene, it would seem inevitable that fate would deliver me my favourite Swedish band from this century. Those who know me already know the band. It’s DomKraft. And their professionally shot show at this year’s RippleFest is the best way to prove how they are at the top.

In my opinion, no country has produced more rock ‘n’ roll greatness per capita than Sweden. This is one more reminder why the current stoner/desert/doom scene is not only global but also reaching a level of greatness that has not been witnessed in fifty years.

If you’ve listened to all the music I have just listed for as long as I have, you would not dare raise your hand in some reflexive rebuttal.

Sweden rocks. And it rocks harder than you could even imagine. If Audiodome, the last song from the live performance by Domkraft does not rock your boat, then nothing will.

Turning 60 and Turning Up The Volume On Heavy Music Experiences

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