Last post for this week. And there won’t be any posts next week. Nor the following Monday. So probably until Wednesday May 25th there won’t be updates on the blog. I’m traveling to Mexico in a few hours. Happy holidays to me.

The Fizzybees: who are this sweet sounding band from Upstate New York? I have never heard them before! They have a new album on Bandcamp called “Hello World” and it sounds brilliant to my ears, honey to my ears. Maybe it is not an album, but a mini-album, all right. It only has 7 songs that in the end feel short, you are left hoping for more. The band is just a duo formed by Emily Bernier and Jeff Yaus and I hope this gets released properly somehow!

New Centre of the Universe, Vol. 3: Just found out about this compilation released by Geelong, Australia’s Anti Fade Records. It is now available to pre-order the vinyl LP version and a few of the songs on the record are streamable on Bandcamp. I’m recommending this record on the strength of the opening track, Parsnip’s “It Couldn’t Be True”. It is a terrific pop song.  The other two songs I’ve heard, Alien Nosejob’s “Maggie” and Traffik Island’s “Sky High” are not as good sadly. But there are 14 more songs that I haven’t heard that I hope are at the same level of Parnip’s song!

Blanco: I have recommended this Japanese band in the past because I’m a big fan of their music. I was able to get their latest CD EP a few months ago too, the one called “Wake With Moon Tide”. Well today I found out the band have released on Youtube a new song and a video. It is called “Paradise” and it should be their next single. I hope it is also released on CD!

Flower Box: now a band from Jacksonville, Florida. Six songs on their self-titled digital debut. Yes it is only digital so far, no records, but they do have t-shirts. The band is formed by Molli Shivers on vocals and guitar and Joseph Thigpen on drums. From the little blurb I learn that all of the songs were home recorded and everything was performed by the two members. Lovely sounding dreampop from down south. Let’s keep an eye on their next projects then.

Parque de Cometas: my last recommendation is a Mexican one. Of course, I’m going to Mexico. But sadly not to Tijuana the city this band hails from. There are two superb guitar pop songs on the band’s page, “Gente Violenta” and “Azoteas” which are also available on CD. This band is new to me so it is quite a surprise. They are formed by Andrés Corella on vocals and bass, Mitzi Licona on guitar and vocals, Rodolfo Hernandez on synths and Melissa Lunar on percussion and vocals.

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I’m focusing on obscure bands that have non-obscure names, right? If I just wrote about Hurt, today I will try to find out any details about the Swedish band Drug. These names wouldn’t cut it in thee times, would be impossible to google them! How have things changed!

I know very little about Drug though they did release two records on Ceilidh Productions in the 90s and appeared on a few compilations. I will try to get some of these records in the near future, so far I’ve only listened to their music on what’s available on the web. Just spent quite a lot of money in new records last week. Need to be careful with my economy!

The first song I heard by them is the jangly “Wintertime”. I thought it was brilliant. It turns out it was an A side for a 7″ that was released in 1991 by the legendary Swedish label Ceilidh Productions. This 7″ had the catalog number CEI 019 and was recorded at The Forest studio in Sturefors. Been to Sweden more than a few times, but don’t think I’ve been to Sturefors. Where is that? Sturefors is a locality situated in Linköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 2,229 inhabitants in 2010. Ok, close to Linköping. That is good to know.

The B side for the record was “Daybreak” which is also a very nice song, though a bit moodier I’d say. The art for the mysterious sleeve was created by Anders Nylander while the photography on the back cover was taken by Peter Menzel. No mention where they took that enigmatic photograph of the front cover. We do get some credits though and that is great, maybe I’ll be able to track down the members at some point. We know that the band was formed by Claes Westling on vocals, organ and guitar, Anders Nylander on bass and vocals and Jan Elton on drums and vocals. There was some additional guitar on “Wintertime” thanks to Bo Häggqvist. The first song is credited to Westling/Ejeman who I’m not sure who is Ejeman at this point, while the B side is only credited to Clas Westling. This first record was engineered by Lars Jonsson.

It would take 5 years for the next proper release by the band. I’m not sure why it took so long. The album “The Quest of the Source of Sentimentality” was released in 1996 by Ceilidh Productions (CEI 038). It was released on CD and included 10 songs: “Unnerved”, “Tranquilizer”, “Sister”, “From March to May”, “The Birds”, “Shadow in My Heart”, “The Red Wind”, “Write Me a Sign”, “Bloodshed” and “Magic Rain”. Now the band had expanded and lost its first drummer. Claes Westling and Anders Nylander are still in the band but Lars Halvarsson is the new drummer. And they have added Per Ejeman as a guitarist. Okay, now I know who Ejeman, who co-wrote the beautiful “Wintertime” is.

For this record all of the songs were penned by Claes but “From March to May”, “Shadow in My Heart”, “The Red Wind” and “Magic Rain” were co-written with Anders. The artwork for the cover was a bit like the first record though not as enigmatic, now there is a farm photograph, in black and white. This cover is credited to Anders, Claes and M. Larsson. The photography on the booklet was taken by Anette Nantell. The album was recorded and mixed by Magnus Henriksson who had been involved in a band called Funny Gallery in the 90s too.

As I mentioned earlier, the band appeared on a few compilations. And here my whole idea of the band changes. So they weren’t just a 90s band. They had been going already in 1989. There are two compilation appearances dating from that year! Then, when did this band form?! On the compilation “Nordic Sounds Volume 2” that was released by Joker Records (JOKE 917) they had the song “Voice of the Blood” at the very end of this record. It is interesting, on this compilation I see The Wannadies, Happydeadmen and The Persuaders among others. The CD is promoted as having 18 Swedish underground hits. I found something anecdotic about this label. They were the first indie Swedish label to release a CD, and it was actually this one, this compilation. The label was based in Johanneshov and was active between 1984 and 1995.

That same year, on an LP compilation called “Bommen Bandstand Vol.1” that was released by Public Road Records (PR 388), the band contributed the song “Candle”. I notice here on the credits that perhaps during these first years of the band they had a different lineup. Claes and Anders are still, I suppose they were the core of the band, Jan was drumming, just like the first record, but Johan Linde played guitar and there were female vocals thanks to Pia Rahmberg.

Then in 1997 they appear on the compilation “Ceilidh 039 Singles & Vinyls” that was released by Ceilidh on CD. I believe I mentioned this compilation before on the blog when I wrote about Dream. Drug appears with their classic “Wintertime”. This was more of a celebration of previous releases of the label than bands promoting their music. So I wonder if the band was still going in 1997.

Discogs lists two more compilations, but I’m 100% sure they are wrong. They must be a different band with the same name, Drug.

The label Ceilidh has information about many Swedish bands from the period. I’ve consulted it in the past. So why not check out again. I think it is my best bet. There is not much information. No biography. Just the different lineups. We know them, but not the first one. The first lineup from 1989 has Claes, Anders, Jan and Tor Sigvardsson on keyboards.

I couldn’t find any other bands, on Discogs, that Anders might have been involved but I do find that Claes Westling had been in one called The Supreme Court that released a 7″ in 1985. The record is catalogued as a post-punk record. It is interesting that on this same record we see that Per Ejemann played guitar and vocals. And they both co-wrote the songs. So perhaps “Wintertime” was a song from this period?

But there is also another good website: Popfakta. In it I can find other bands the Drug members were involved with. For example I could find that Anders Nylander had been in a band called Baden Baden during the 80s and in Maydream in the late 90s.

Then possibly a very good piece of information. I stumble on Rateyourmusic with the place the band was from, Vadstena. Never heard about this place either. Vadstena (Swedish pronunciation: [²vasːˌteːna]) is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,613 inhabitants in 2010.[1] From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality. Despite its small population, Vadstena is, for historical reasons, still referred to as a city: though it received its city privileges in 1400), Statistics Sweden only counts as cities Swedish urban localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants. It is actually close to Linköping and Sturefors.

That’s quite some information I found. More than I thought I would. But still so many gaps that need to be filled. Hopefully my Swedish friends remember them!

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Listen
Drug – Wintertime