28 Inches of Punk Rock Part 7 (4x 7” Vinyl) Sweden Special
Knugen Faller - Skellefte Stadshotell EP
Label: Cage Match Federation; Year: 2004; Format: Vinyl EP
Welcome to 2025 ladies and gentlemen, time to kick this website into another gear and post as often as possible. During the weeks leading up to the end of last year I was really busy cleaning up and transferring over the remainder of the old Hits From The Past entries and while doing so I started a number of series I shall continue into the future, one of them being 28 Inches of Punk Rock. Today’s post is dedicated to punk rock from Sverige, Sweden that is for you Anglophones.
Many years ago when still living in Switzerland I recall watching a political program that ran every Sunday after 7pm, I believe it was called Weltspiegel, and could be compared to 60 Minutes here in the U.S., only with a much more international outlook. Anyhow, I remember that one Sunday there was a report about straight edge youth in Umea, a city in the Northeast of Sweden. Music played a major role in that report and I remember it to this day as that is probably the only time hardcore punk was the main focus in said TV program, at least in my memory. While you might wonder why I am bringing this up, let me introduce you to Knugen Faller, who hailed from the city of Umea, did not play straight edge hardcore, but most likely originated from that incredibly active scene that had its start around 1990 with Refused being probably the best known band out of that scene. But wait, weren’t The (International) Noise Conspiracy also from Umea? Of course they were, but not intending to get too side-tracked here as my aim is simply to put the origins of Knugen Faller into a wider context, hence should you be interested in the history of Umea Hardcore, watch this documentary on vimeo. Again, Knugen Faller played anything than hardcore punk and I got these two EPs that were released back in 2004/05 not too long ago from Havoc Records, and I’m glad I did as they are both excellent.
Let’s start off with Skelleft Stadshotell, a 4-track EP with equally as many hits, but the stand out tracks are the title track and ‘Gubbe’, just marvelous. Knugen Faller evolved partially out of the ashes of Totalt Javla Morker, a noisy hardcore punk outfit deeply entrenched in the Umea Hardcore scene. It is my assumption that over time the members dug deeper into the history of punk rock and came across bands such as Ebba Gron, KSMB or Lost Kids to name a few, as the music and the song arrangements remind me heavily of said bands. Not that I understand Swedish, but the lyrics tend to be quite political with the last track ‘Demokrati’ obviously questioning many an institution. Last but not least I would love to find out why the band decided to name this EP after a hotel located in the city of Skelleftea, apparently home to many well known ice hockey players. Anyway, this is a winner and should be in everyone’s record collection!
Photo Credit: Annika Berglund, 2007
Knugen Faller - Inte Som Ni EP
Label: Ny Vag Records; Year: 2005; Format: Vinyl EP
Much the same here as above in terms of quality and delivery, simply superb. The songs are crafted maybe at an even higher level than previously with the title track ‘Inte Som Ni’ being the poppiest of all of them. Stand out track is ‘Adolf Hitler’, obviously not fond of the miserable cunt rotting in hell, but rather bringing him into a Swedish context of people following bands like Ultima Thule. That’s at least how I understand the lyrics with my very limited Swedish language knowledge. The addition of Rosali Grankull on saxophone on said track proves yet again that the good ole’ sax can work pretty well in the world of punk rock when applied with passion and the right attitude. Rosali was also on guitar in Ambulance, yet another band in the never ending labyrinth of Umea hardcore bands. Before calling it the end of a day Knugen Faller released a full length in 2006 which I will need to get sooner rather than later. In that sense, stay tuned for more Knugen Faller!!
E.A.T.E.R - Doomsday Troops - 5 Spars EP
Label: Loud Punk Records; Year: 2013; Format: Vinyl EP
I bought this EP not too long ago during a quick trip to Albany, NY at the great Last Vestige record store. Thanks to now defunct Loud Punk Records from New York’s capital region this EP was reissued over a decade ago, but for all you latecomers like myself, is still readily available. Originally self-released on Ernst Records back in early ‘84 this was the band’s first vinyl release after having recorded a tape back in ‘82, together with another forgotten band by the name of Incharge. Ernst and the Edsholm Rebels (E.A.T.E.R) hailed from Grums on the West Coast of Sweden and formed in 1982. Doomsday Troops was recorded in ‘83 at Kloakens Alternativa Antistudio run by Micke Blomqvist of Asta Kask fame. E.A.T.E.R were part of the contemporary Swedish hardcore punk scene back then and also featured on Really Fast Volume 1, a rather famous Swedish hardcore punk compilation series. I would describe them somewhat similar to T.S.T, in the sense that their style is a mixture of past and current trends within the hardcore punk genre of the early ‘80s. Some songs have a more UK82 feel to them, whereas others lean more toward US hardcore punk. Still, like other Swedish bands E.A.T.E.R were able to mix that with the Swedish style of playing and did well with that. I am surprised this EP is still so readily available as it is really good and for anyone out there loving ‘80s Scandinavian hardcore punk I can highly recommend getting a copy of it. While doing research about the band I have learnt that they recorded a 2nd and even 3rd EP back in the day, of which at least one has seen the light posthumously as "Abort The System”, released in Japan on Hardcore Survives. Further to that I was surprised to see that the band is active to this day, or at least more recent years, and has also released new material. They can be found on bandcamp, and also have their own YouTube channel. Get this one!
Mob 47 - S/T EP
Label: Havoc Records; Year: 2007; Format: Vinyl EP
I recall buying the first reissue of this hardcore punk classic on Uproar Records back in ‘89 almost like it was yesterday. To this day I prefer the cover artwork over the original one, but that’s just as a side note. Later on in the ‘90s I also bought the Distortion Records LP entitled ‘Garanterat Mangel’ and at some point parted with my copy of the Uproar Records reissue, really not sure as to why. Not too long ago I bought a copy of the 2007 Havoc reissue as it comes with the original artwork and I just really wanted to have this classic in its original format again. I am of the opinion that this record doesn’t need much introduction because anyone that is into ‘80s hardcore punk will be familiar with this one, or at least should be. It is rightfully regarded as one of the best and most important Swedish hardcore punk records, and it should come as no surprise that the band has seen a surge in popularity in the last two decades or so. As a matter of fact when I moved to London from Switzerland in 2007 my first gig I attended was Mob 47 at the Grosvenor Arms, a pub that used to host punk gigs. Since then the band has played and toured across the globe, and recently appeared as far away as Columbia. I must say that I love how some of these old bands have made it possible for folks to see them in far away countries where they probably never even dreamed of having the opportunity to witness them. This EP is packed with angry and pissed off songs, influenced equally by US hardcore and D-Beat as well as Dutch hardcore punk in particular. Originally released in ‘84 on Roj Records it is a masterpiece of European hardcore punk and will without doubt always find new fans interested in said genre. I will definitely go much deeper into the history of Mob 47 once I review ‘Garanterat Mangel’. For now, keep it noisy folks and remember Svensk Punk rules!
