Blackstrap
Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden | INDIE
Music
Press
"It's one of the better produced rock records I've heard in a while and really makes we wish I still had a car. Blackstrap are great crank-it-up driving music. They're also one of these bands that when you hear the record you just know they're going to be good live" - BROOKLYN VEGAN
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
NOW PLAYING: Steal My Horses And Run (TEE PEE; teepeerecords.com)
THE STORY SO FAR: While recording their second album, Steal My Horses And Run, Swedish rockers Blackstrap took the path less (or never) traveled and recorded their songs in a bunker in Amsterdam during the Netherlands' harshest winter months. "We had to wear our winter coats most of the time," recalls vocalist/guitarist Jonatan Westh. "It was the only way to keep warm." Label problems and inner band turmoil turned the album's production into a nearly four-year adventure, which suited the band fine since they have no interest in keeping up with trends. "If you try to cash in on the latest thing, you will be one step behind," Westh says.
WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW 'EM: While it isn't hard to detect that their heroes are the Jesus And Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, there are a few surprises in Blackstrap's influences. "I can see many [similarities] lyrically with Fleetwood Mac's Rumours," says Westh. And unlike many up-and-coming bands who want the spotlight to themselves, these Swedes hope to use their burgeoning popularity to bring attention to their heroes. "I hope that kids that like us will look up bands we like," says Westh. "That's how I started out. I read that Kurt Cobain liked Fugazi, and then I ordered [their] records from Dischord Records." -Matt Pullman
YOU LIKE? YOU'LL LIKE: SERENA MANEESH / DARKER MY LOVE / BLACK MOUNTAIN - ALTERNATIVE PRESS
It only takes a cursory listen to verify Blackstrap's membership in The My Black Rebel Bloody Jesus and Mary Motorcycle Chain Valentine Club. At times you'll have them pegged as My Bloody Valentine, other times the Jesus and Mary Chain, or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. From the detached cool of their vocals, to the their affinity for the swirling sonics favored by the shoegazing sect, these Swedes proudly rock the noise of their idols on their latest release, Steal My Horses and Run.
There's a temptation to dismiss this band as nothing more than a cover band capable of cranking out any tune from the Brit Box on call, except for two factors: First, any psychedelic band starting out today, whether they're from the Velvet Underground school, the Sabbath school, or the My Bloody Valentine school, are limited in their stylistic choices from the day they start their band, and, more importantly, if My Bloody Valentine released an album this solid in the year 2008, music fans would be going totally ape sh*t for this stuff. While Blackstrap may not be the first band to ride the feedback and fuzz wave across the Atlantic, they're certainly one of the most capable bands in the MBV school of dynamics. Besides, do you really think that Kevin Shields will ever finish another My Bloody Valentine album? - I ROCK CLEVELAND
"Good stuff, really good—maybe one of the best of the more Good stuff, really good—maybe one of the best of the more recent wave of shoegaze bands like Serena Maneesh, Amusement Parks On Fire and A Place To Bury Strangers" - PAPER THIN WALLS
"an intoxicating sonic absinthe shot that argues emphatically that loud, pulsing guitars are still the best way for an audience to lose its collective mind. - Music Millenium
Discography
2003 In Colored Ways (single)
2003 Jointly and Seperately (single)
2004 Ghost Children
2006/2008 Steal My Horses And Run
Photos
Bio
Following a successful tour and critical acclaim from their album "Steal My Horses And Run" in the U.S., Stockholm's Blackstrap, have shown to Scandinavia that they are a band to watch. With the band spending much of the last few years in Sweden quietly harnessing their songs, sound and live show, a focus toward U.S. reception has paid off.
With U.S. press exclaiming "Good stuff, really good—maybe one of the best of the more recent wave of shoegaze bands like Serena Maneesh, Amusement Parks On Fire and A Place To Bury Strangers" (Paper Thin Walls), and "Gorgeous, Memorable and just a pleasure to listen to, Blackstrap has found a winning combination on Steal My Horses And Run that takes the best of their influences and creates something unique" (Outburn ) the excitement for Blackstrap has just seem to have just started despite their 6 year history. The U.S. tour dates with the backing of their U.S. Label TEE PEE RECORDS (BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, ENTRANCE, THE WARLOCKS) put Blackstrap in front of excited audiences welcoming their blend of psychedelic-shoegaze pop rock, playing such acts as THE VON BONDIES, ASOBI SEKSU, and THE LITTLE ONES.
BLACKSTRAP's core sound is in the dynamic duo of singer-guitarist Jonathan Westh and singer-keyboardist Maria Linden, completed with drummer David Karlsson, guitarist Patrick Alversson and bassist Filiph Antonsson. Blending their love for tripped out bands like SUICIDE, SPIRITUALIZED, SPACEMEN 3, and NEU! and the 3 minute pop song, its no wonder radio in Sweden, U.K. and U.S. have all supported the band. The band is now working on their 3rd album, recording initial tracks in Oslo, Norway, with various U.S producers slated to mix the end result.
Links
