The legendary band Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks turns 30 and Fanfar! is marking the occasion by releasing an elaborate collection of the band’s own favourites.
Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks was formed in Solna in November 1992 by the band’s eternal frontman Robert Johnson. Right from the start they put the pedal to the metal and the band’s signature style was equal parts Link Wray, Ennio Morricone, and rascally attitude.
Soon enough, they were a respected name in unabashed instrumental rock, both at home in Sweden and internationally. The breakthrough came with the album Fried on the Altar of Good Taste (2000) and the following year they were commissioned to score Fredrik Lindström’s comedy Känd från TV.
But soon enough – and typically for the band – they went against expectations and challenged their own audience by reincarnating as a synth duo. Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks have always gone their own way and they have done things with high quality after their own heart. 2017 saw the release of their latest original album – the acclaimed soundtrack (to a film that never made it to cinemas) Morte di Seeburg (also on Fanfar!).
Just in time for the 30th anniversary, we release Solna, Texas 1992-2022 – a limited edition vinyl compilation album. The lavish effort features Conny Nimmersjö of bob hund and KC BABY as executive producer. Conny has dug up the best master tapes possible from the archives and made sure the songs were remastered in the best possible way. A high quality product that we are very proud of.
Now we’re releasing another fantastic album with American indie rock legends The Mommyheads. On “Genius Killer”, the group continues to reinvent themselves.
Genius Killer is The Mommyheads’ new album, the eighth since their unexpected reunion in 2008.
Genius Killer is a very fresh sounding and inventive album with amazing attention to detail and unusually varied arrangements and instrumentation. The Mommyheads have raised an already high bar and this may be their definite work. Truly progressive, yet with the sense of melody completely intact.
The Mommyheads: Idealist (from Genius Killer, 2022)
Here’s a little something about each and every one of the tracks on Genius Killer.
Impulse Item
Amazing intro, followed by a smooth George Harrison/Beatles vibe, when the actual song starts (especially the guitar melody). Lovely ELO-like backing vocals in the chorus. The lyrics are very present and make you re-evaluate your life. ”…things to do that have lasting value”. We thought this would be the album’s pièce de résistance until we realized that the entire album is full of highlights.
Genius Killer
We like the somewhat chaotic arrangement and playing. Lots of stuff going on. The break with the synth arpeggios…. mmmm… The progster in you comes alive. Harmonically, it feels more like a ”typical” Mommyheads track, with all the great features that the Mommyhead-heads have come to know and love.
She’s a Fighter
We love the fact that the lead vocals are sung in two octaves simultaneously. Interesting time signature change! It reminds you of some Neil Young song. Love the organ that appears around three minutes in.
We Almost Lost It All
…offers some breathing space after a couple of busy, dense songs. Reflective. A happy/sad song. Reminds us of The Band at their peak, in part because of the laid back groove, Richard Manuel-like falsetto singing and tasty combination of organ and piano. Very vintage sounding song with lots of earthy, acoustic sounds.
Distill Your Love Into That Dying Light
Funky stuff. 70’s vibe and sounds. Kinda reminds us of Superstition by Stevie Wonder. Love the title: great advice. The lyrics read like a dystopian, yet hopeful, science fiction novel to us. And that bass guitar sounds thick and evil.
Idealist
Feels like it could have been a Todd Rundgren song (back when his albums were still relevant). Interesting lyrics. We all know people who fit the description perfectly. Some lines make you think of the band’s own Michael Holt. Coincidence?
Privilege
Another groovy thing. Love the tempo. ”Quirky power pop” in the best sense of all three words. Got a Todd Rundgren vibe from this one, too. Is that Jackie Simons singing parts of the song, along with Adam Elk?
Bittersweet
More breathing space for the listener. Probably needed. There’s already lots of musical information to take in. This feels like a more ”normal” The Mommyheads song, driven by the lead vocals and the thoughtful, poetic lyrics. We get an old school soul vibe from this one, albeit with pop harmonies. Some craziness during the end, though. Almost feels like T. Rex.
One And The Same
Love the acoustic guitar figure during the verse. This one also feels like a more typical The Mommyheads song. Which is like reconnecting with an old friend.
First Five Seconds
This one made us laugh out loud. Prog intro deluxe! And what follows does not disappoint. This makes the fact that King Crimson have stopped touring a tad less disappointing. (The riff is a bit like a King Crimson guitar figure played on organ instead). The lyrics suggest disappointment. “Was it all worth it?” If you ask us, the answer is ”yes”. And we’re not talking about the band. It was probably a smart move to not open the album with this one, but it’s a perfect ending: it leaves you fully satisfied, yet knowing you’ll soon be back for more.
Congratulations, The Mommyheads, on a magnificent album.
Today sees the release of the “4 Songs EP” by The Roxton Giants, the first sign of life from the group in fifty years. Their spaghetti-western-scented rocksteady has been lying fallow until Per Thorsell called in their record at an auction.
Little or nothing is known about The Roxton Giants. The band seems to have been active in or around Roxton, Texas in the late ’60s, possibly into the ’70s. The only known copies of their records turned up at an auction in Sweden the other year and the buyer – Per Thorsell, known from bands like Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks and The Hi-Winders – took a gamble and called them in. He was not disappointed. The reissue of the 4 Songs EP is the first sign of life from the group in 50 years.
From the EP we pick Greasy, an instrumental, lilting, and unsettling blend of ska/rocksteady and Italian spaghetti western. The song was recorded in the US probably in the late 60s and is reissued from the only known copy of the band’s perhaps only EP.
The summer starts with a strong sign of life from KC BABY, the small band with the big emotions. 1 / 1 000 000 (One in a Million) is the title of their new single.
With their new single and video, KC BABY want to tell you that they are alive and well. More music to come. An album is scheduled to be recorded this fall.
1 / 1,000,000 (pronounced “One in a Million”) is about the good and bad of settling for what you have.
Kajsa Magnarsson plays synth and sings, Conny Nimmersjö plays guitar and sings chorus, Christian Gabel has produced and recorded in Studio Cobra, and David Sabel plays bass.
1 / 1 000 000 is a summery indie song to sing along to. Kajsa is delighted to have brought in a house piano. Conny is mostly just delighted.
Video by Astrid Askberger.
KC BABY: 1 / 1 000 000, video by Astrid Askberger
Facts
Artist: KC BABY Title: 1 / 1 000 000 (En på en miljon, One in a Million) Format: Digital single Release: 2022-06-03 Producer: Christian Gabel Cover: Esther Jemth Photo: Hampus Andersson (photographer), Sara Björnstedt (stylist)
On Friday, August 14, we will release “New Kings of Pop”, a great new album with The Mommyheads. The idea was that the band would tour in Scandinavia in connection with it, but the tour is postponed until the spring of 2021. Hey, it’s two reasons to celebrate.
We are very happy and proud to release the American indie band The Mommyheads on vinyl. Last year’s Future You was a smash and the upcoming New Kings of Pop is fantastic. In connection with the release of the new album, The Mommyheads would also come to Scandinavia and conduct a tour together with Swedish band Eggstone. But as we have long feared, it simply became impossible to launch the plans under the current circumstances.
But we should not grieve over this, because there is so much to celebrate. Partly the new album, partly that the plan is for The Mommyheads to come to Scandinavia next spring instead.
Adam Elk of The Mommyheads was so happy when the first copies of the LP arrived in New York that he sent us a short video:
Adam Elk of The Mommyheads listens to the LP version of New Kings of Pop
You can help
Releasing records and trying to get attention around the music is a pretty tiring job. Above all, setbacks of this kind affect the artists, who are both extremely eager to meet their audience and are without income.
Do you want to help? There is a lot you can do. In our eyes mainly:
Help yourself. Listen to The Mommyheads and dive into their music.
Tell others about The Mommyheads. Give examples of your favorite songs.
Buy New Kings of Pop. Go to your local record store and ask them to take the record. (If you live in a territory where we don’t have distribution, you can always order it from us.)
Is there a good playlist with The Mommyheads?
Not all records with The Mommyheads are available on the digital platforms, but many do. We have compiled a playlist if you want to have a taste of the band’s music.
The Mommyheads are back and record label Fanfar! releases their album “New Kings of Pop” on vinyl and digital. In connection with the record, the band will tour Scandinavia together with Sweden’s indie cult heroes Eggstone.
It is difficult to place the American band The Mommyheads within any specific box. No single genre is broad enough to capture the band’s imaginative and willful pop music. This is especially evident on the new album, New Kings of Pop, which is released by the Swedish label Fanfar! in August.
The Mommyheads was formed in New York in 1987, while the band’s members were still in high school. Early on, the band’s music was characterized by experimental ideas and rule breaking. Influences from British post punk bands like XTC were evident from the beginning and over time The Mommyhead’s own sound has evolved into a kaleidoscope of unexpected flashes of classic pop and rock like The Beatles and Queen.
It went so well for the band that they got a deal with the major label Geffen. This also marked the end of the band’s first incarnation. Their introduction to the music industry resulted in the album The Mommyheads, negotiations at the law office and the fact that the members completely lost their interest in playing music ever again. The Mommyheads disbanded in 1998.
But the fans had not forgotten The Mommyheads. On the contrary, the rumor about the band’s unusual music began to spread in Scandinavia. This led to the attention of the band’s members and around 2008, The Mommyheads was again a band that wrote songs together, rehearsed and released records.
Since the last album, Future You, The Mommyhead’s albums are released in collaboration with the Swedish label Fanfar!
The LP “New Kings of Pop” will be released on vinyl and digital on August 14, 2020. In conjunction with the release, The Mommyheads will be touring in Scandinavia with Eggstone.
In the spring of 2020, Fanfar! releases the debut album with Cantona Gut System. Robert Johnson and Johan Skugge opens your mind to dreams that your ears have never heard.
A few years ago, the legendary band Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks closed business with a worthy end, the masterpiece Morte di Seeburg. The obvious central figure Robert Johnson even went so far as to sell his guitars and intended to devote his free time to boxing and snooker. But then again, it’s okay to change your mind.
Together with Johan Skugge, who was also a part of the last edition of Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks, Robert now returns to the cinematic music – but with the new band Cantona Gut System all the controls has been turned a few more turns, in every direction. The debut album Yoko: The Best Beatle will feature music that hasn’t been heard.
The legendary indie band The Mommyheads leaves New York to release their tenth album in Sweden. In August, “Future You” will be followed by a tour of Scandinavia.
Rarely has the term cult band fit as well as with The Mommyheads. The band was formed in 1987 – when the group’s members still attended college – and their imaginative and wayward pop music quickly reached a dedicated crowd of fans around the world.
It went well for The Mommyheads. So good that they ended up on a big label. But that was also the beginning of the end. They recorded an album for Geffen, but the company underwent a crisis and kicked out the band even before the album was released. The Mommyheads first encounter with the music industry was mostly surrounded by meetings and lawyers and the band disbanded with the feeling of never ever going back.
Ten years of silence followed, but it turned out that this absence only increased the fans’ interest. Through the internet, it finally became obvious to the band members – who had only met sporadically since the split – that people were talking more about them than ever before. Maybe it was time to give the band a second chance?
The Mommyheads were reformed in 2008 and has since then regularly released records and played live, not least in Scandinavia. The band has received special attention from Swedish fans, and it is a love that is reciprocated. Today, the band considers Sweden as their second home.
Therefore, it may not be so surprising that Edward Forslund from Riddarna and Pink Milk sings one of the songs on the new album. In Swedish. “Eldsjäl” is a bonus track on the digital release.
It is the Swedish label Fanfar! that issues “Future You”, the band’s tenth album since its inception. The Mommyhead’s music has landed in a relaxed mix of influences from pop’s entire universe and the imaginative and wayward kaleidoscope that has always been the band’s signature. The lyrics also reveal that this is a band that has matured. If they previously sang about rocks and spiders, today’s texts are urgent, contemporary.
The album is released on vinyl and digitally.
The Mommyheads play in Sweden, Norway and Denmark during the period 30 August – 7 September. Tour dates are available here.
American indie pop masters The Mommyheads releases the album Future You on Fanfar! this month. Now comes another strong outtake from the album; the video “Mutual Enemy”.
The Mommyheads: Mutual Enemy from the album Future You
What is the song Mutual Enemy about? This is what Adam Elk, songwriter and singer of The Mommyheads has to say:
Mutual Enemy was also a labor of love. It’s a take on the current geo-political climate using the same stop-motion technique using animated toys? Spoiler alert: We give Robert Mueller a chance to tell us how he really feels at 2:16.
Adam Elk of The Mommyheads to Magnet
Mutual Enemy can be found on the album Future You, released by Fanfar! on August 30, 2019.
The first video from The Mommyhead’s upcoming album is as captivating as it carries an important message. Will “Woke up a Scientist” be the big hit this fall?
“Woke up a Scientist”, taken from the forthcoming album Future You, is a song about hope and the will and ability of young people to change our world. “Woke up a scientist” not only has a current theme, it’s also one of The Mommyhead‘s strongest songs.
‘Woke Up A Scientist’ is dedicated to anyone with an unbounded Imagination. In this case, my son literally woke up one morning and wanted to be a scientist. I filled in the lyrical gaps with my own interpretation of how the world could benefit from rediscovering the fearlessness of it’s own inner child.
Adam Elk, The Mommyheads
On August 30, 2019 we will release the new album from The Mommyheads, Future You.
