En Svensk Tiger - Versace Style

Tracks
1. Ministeriet
2. Hotel Magnolia
3. Jag Heter Tom
4. Jag Är Död
5. Leningrad Skyline
6. Sandra Måste Dö
7. Dagboksdröm
8. Vakt på Valand
9. Punkrockarflicka
10. Gustavsgatan 58
11. Till Blå


Band:
Päkka – vocals & guitar
Tagan – drums
Wide – bass


Discography:
Debut


Guests
Johan Johansson (Percussion, accoustic guitar)
Anders Kwarnmark (Piano)
Henrik Magnusson (Hand-wahwah, räkor)


Info
Recorded by Isak Edh @ Nacksving Studio 1
Produced by Johan Johansson
Mixed by Henrik Magnusson
Mastered by Dragan Tanaskovic @ Bohus Sound

Released 2/18/09
Reviewed 1/27/09


Links:
ensvensktiger.net
myspace
buzzboxrecords

Well, a Swedish Tiger is the name of this band of guys from Gothenburg. It is also a reference going back to times of war but that has no relevance for this review in general. It is punk rock sung in Swedish, could that really be good? Well, read on in order to know.

As I have just said about this band is that they are punk rockers with ties to Gothenburg which can be heard in both lyrics and the dialect of the singer, a dialect that is generally quite okay if you discount the way he pronounce the letter D. The music is fast paced and rather simple which fits the lyrical themes rather well even though you might argue that the anger or hatred that is in the lyrics may not always manifest itself in the music but only in the lyrics.

A thing that I have been contemplating when listening to this album is the fact that the lyrics is in Swedish and that the texts of the song is generally a rather important part of the song, a message if you like. I have wondered weather or not this works for someone not fluent in Swedish and the answer? Well, there is no clear answer, I cannot fully distance myself from my Swedish knowledge and therefore it is rather difficult to understand what it is all about if you don’t know that language which most people in the world of course don’t.

In trying to reach a conclusion when it comes to this topic I have thought about how much I can like songs sung in French or Italian, maybe Spanish and in many parts that music might work but still, they are in other genres which still leaves the question mark (?) about this kind of music. Well, unfortunately for this band’s sake I think that this cannot quite work for people who do not understand the language, the lyrics still has so much more to offer to the bigger picture and I believe you have to be able to understand what the singer is saying to get the full potential of this band.

So, the rating will be lower for this band in English than it is in Swedish, it is not because the music is worse of course but I think the lyrics plays such a big role that a translation would have been necessary to get the best out of the band.

In Swedish I found this to be an excellent political record but here in English it is a fast paced punk rock record which doesn’t really mean anything unless you learn Swedish.

A nice record with good songs that loose a little due to the fact that we cannot understand what it says.

HHHHHHH

Label - Buzzbox records/Triada
Three similar bands - Dia Psalma/Ebba Grön/--
Rating: HHHHHHH
Revewer: Daniel Källmalm
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