Uncovering Sweden's secret garage punk past

The way the unabashedly twee pop and fresh-scrubbed club confections have been flowing out of Stockholm for the last couple of years, it's easy to forget that Sweden was actually the European capital of raunchy fuzzed-out rock 'n' roll savagery during the 80s garage rock revival.
While the Lyres were battling the Chesterfield Kings over here for the titans of teen trash title, the Nomads, Shoutless, Problem, The Stomachmouths, The Creeps, Crimson Shadows, Backdoor Men, Wylde Mammoths, Wilmer X and others were tearing up clubs across Scandinavia packed with plastered suburban no-counts who would later form bands of their own. The future members of the Hives and Hellacopers were clearly paying attention even if the rest of the world wasn't.

Many of  finest recordings made by Swedish bands of the era remained largely unheard outside of the country until 1985 when the Amigo label released a state-of-the-scene document called A Real Cool Time: Distorted Sounds From The North. News quickly spread that Sweden was producing some brutal bashers – inspired by the obscure 60s punk artifacts collected on the Pebbles and Back From The Grave archival comps – which could compete with the kick-ass combos springing up in Australia, Spain, Italy and in small towns all over North America. 
To mark the 25th anniversary of that head-turning A Real Cool Time anthology, Amigo label A&R dude Ulf Lindqvist has put together A Real Cool Time Revisited: Swedish Punk, Pop and Garage Rock 1982-1989 (RPM) – an expanded two disc anthology with accompanying notes written by Sonic magazine contributor and former Voodoo Dolls frontman L-P Anderson. 

The first thing that owners of the original set will notice is that Lindqvist didn't simply tack on a bit of bonus material, he completely overhauled the 1985 package. Consequently some great tunes on A Real Cool Time have been replaced with alternate selections by the same act: The Shoutless are now represented by Insane rather than Change My Ways, Dr. Yogami's Plastic Surgeon is substituted for Nightmare Birds, The Wayward Souls' Unknown Journey replaces Inside Your Mind and the Bottle Ups'  Bottle Beat has been axed in favour of Ramblin' Reckless Hobo and Too Much Talk.

Odd yes, but stranger still, Hidden Charms and Occasional Dead Flys who made it onto the first collection were mysteriously jettisoned from the revamped 40-track package. So if you loved the original set, hang on to it as this updated edition appears to be designed as a sort of companion piece with a slightly broader stylistic scope.  

The selection criteria of using one song per artist – except for the aforementioned  Bottle Ups who rate two tracks for some reason – is also a bit puzzling. It may be the most democratic method and would work just fine if the sole purpose was to simply showcase as many bands as possible. However, if the goal was to assemble a fat-free double disc blast of the most exciting music of the period, a weighted selection might've been a better strategy to help ensure fantastic songs by prolific groups wouldn't be left off  to make room for mediocre numbers by one-single wonders.

The fact that the Nomads' lengthy and highly productive career is represented only by their cover of the Third Bardo's I'm Five Years Ahead Of My Time just doesn't seem right even if it is a concert staple. And no, including the rip that the Nomads members did on Blue Oyster Cult's This Ain't The Summer Of Love while masquerading as the Screaming Dizbusters won't make up for what was missed.
Why not go with one of the Nomads' own compositions like say, Where The Wolfbane Blooms or Lowdown Shakin' Chills? Heck, use them both – they're better than most of the stuff that made the final cut including The Voodoo Dolls' ill-advised crack at The Apollos' untouchable scorcher That's The Breaks.   

Where The Wolfbane Blooms / Five Years Ahead of My Time by The Nomads @ Debaser, Stockholm March 5, 2010


It's understandable that Lindqvist would want to include a track by Union Carbide Productions since the members went on to form The Soundtrack Of Our Lives. But of all the songs he could've picked, he chose Cartoon Animal, their straight-up cop of the Sonic Rendezvous Band's City Slang with alternate lyrics written and sung by Ebbot Lundberg. I can't imagine Ebbot will be too pleased to have that embarrassing business coming back to haunt him, especially if the legal representatives of Fred "Sonic" Smith's estate notice some intriguing similarities between the two tunes.

City Slang by Sonic's Rendezvous Band


Cartoon Animal by Union Carbide Productions
  

Unusual and sometimes perplexing song selections aside, anyone interested in tracing the sonic roots of the Hives, Hellacopters, Sahara Hotnights, the (International) Noise Conspiracy and The Soundtrack Of Our Lives will find A Real Cool Time Revisited a great place to start but it might be wise to grab the double disc set while you can. 

 

 

A Real Cool Time Revisited

Disc 1

1 Nomads - I'm Five Years Ahead Of My Time

2 Shoutless - Insane

3 Wayward Souls - Unknown Journey

4 Backdoor Men - Out Of My Mind

5 Crimson Shadows - Even I Tell Lies

6 Dolkows - Silent Woods

7 Sonic Walthers - No Lies

8 Hijackers - When I Get Home

9 Sinners - When She Lies

10 Voodoo Dolls - That's The Breaks

11 Legendary Lovers - King Of The World

12 Watermelon Men - Your Eyes

13 Wylde Mammoths - Help That Girl

14 Friends Inside - Where Are You Sleeping Tonight?

15 Stomachmouths - Don't Put Me Down

16 Psychotic Youth - Love Machine

17 Wilmer X - Motorbike Drivin'

18 Union Carbide Productions - Cartoon Animal

19 Bottle Ups - Ramblin' Wreckless Hobo

20 Bangsters - Strangers

Disc 2

1 Screaming Dizbüsters - This Ain't The Summer Of Love

2 Problem - Uppskärarjack

3 Slammers - Don't Push Me Around

4 Creeps - She's Gone

5 Maryland Cookies - Don't Lie To Me

6 Dr. Yogami - Plastic Surgeon

7 Highway Slugs - Just Another Loner

8 Public Vein - Carry On

9 Bottle Ups - Too Much Talk

10 Playmates - Days After Tomorrow

11 Pyromaniacs - Lost Revenge

12 Slobster - Sudden Death

13 Preachers - Thirtynine Steps

14 Pushtwangers - She's Blind (But I Don't Mind)

15 Cornflake Zoo - Hey Conductor

16 Highspeed V - Sally

17 Livingstones - Fastest Car Around!

18 Rumblers - Bopalina Bopalina Ow Mow Mow Mow

19 Sator - Pig Valley Beach

20 Leather Nun - Prime Mover