The Dandelions

Because a name like The WhoStoogeFaceYardStones is too cumbersome, these smart red-dressed Swedish boys of varying degrees of prettiness have named themselves after a persistent domestic weed. And the lawn from which The Dandelions are irrepressibly sprouting is very much a lawn of garagey howling, chang-a-chang Fenders & groovy handclaps. And that's a good thing, so put away the weedkiller. - XFM, Neil Cole

The obligatory band from Sweden are here – hate to say I told you so, a Swedish band who sound like The Hives or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or The Strokes or the blah blah blahs..... We thought there'd be a million of these in Alan's bin, this is the first - still, Alan doesn't know does he, he didn't even bother to open the envelope, he just threw it away unopened with all the others. Hey The Dandelions are good at their thing, I like this, they rock and they stand out from the crowd - they've got the hand-claps and the chrome cheetah motherfuker riffs in the right places and the trashy guitar and stabby skiffle sound and the urgent howling garage vocals.... this is cool, The Dandelions stand out from the crowd, they've got a kind of Yardbirds/Brian Jonestown Massacre retro feel to their Stooged up garage rock - hey, you know what, they should send this demo to Alan McGee' he'd love this, I’ll give you his address if you want it, he makes out like he cares, I’m sure he’s a good guy in it for his love of music and all that..." - The Organ Magazine

The Dandelions is our favourite amongst the bands coming out of the new Swedish punk movement (swunk?) at the moment. .. their malevolent Rock 'n' Roll is bound to soon get picked up by a major label and spread across the world. Until that happens though, this mini UK tour with five gigs in six days provides a foretaste of what is to come, with the five members of the band churning out songs such as "Oh God!", "Get on" and "Banned from Alain's" -- the latter telling the story of how the owner of the club where they played their first ever gig had to pull the plug after only 40 seconds because they were just too loud. Known for living as fast as their music (drummer Mattias Bergqvist once played an entire gig with a broken hand), The Dandelions might well have you fumble for that main switch, too - Kultureflash

The story of how The Dandelions’ first gig came to an abrupt end after 40 seconds, when the owner of the establishment “pulled the plug”, is a nice little piece of mythology that may endure and may even endear them to the popular music press here. Quite what upset the proprietor of the Stockholm bar in question is neither related in their biographical notes nor especially apparent on this, their self-produced debut recording for Hijack Records. What we do have here are five less than terrifying, red-clad young lads playing four breezy, catchy and beautifully concise pop songs.
Your biggest difficulty with this is going to be keeping the words “The Hives” out of your head. For all that Dandelions are less heavy and more poppy, ultimately they can only, truthfully, have been influenced by their compatriots. The opening track, On The 54, could well be Hate To Say I Told You So’s rascally little brother, with its driving bassline, and killer, handclappy chorus; “shake it out now/ shake it out now”. It could be a hit. Similarly, So Lonely’s madly infectious “Oh! Ah!” chorus is designed to get those rent-a-muppet TOTP audiences clapping along gleefully and inanely. Central Station and Mike, continue in a similar, if less instant vein, the inclusion of a harmonica solo at the close of the latter taking it over the hitherto uncharted three-minute barrier. I would have hoped for at least one track showing a different dimension to their work, but if this is all that they do then they do it very well. Live, I’m sure they are formidable.
In a crowded indie rock scene they’ll need all the help they can get to rise above the parapet, and I wish them luck. Existing Hives fans may just say, “I’ve already got one…”
- Soundsxp

Ace Swedish trash-rock garagey griminess from The Dandelions, the latest Scandinavians to get over here and rock our asses into dimpled wobbles of self-taut scrawny shimmer. To put it another way: THEY’RE ACE. End
- Order, Barfly Listings Guide

During the past year The Dandelions have received a lot of well deserved attention in the UK after a series of well received shows and it isn’t that hard to believe after you hear them. With their charming garage-rock they make you think of The Stooges, The Who and early Rolling Stones and they have also unsurprisingly been compared to The Hives. But don’t let this affect your judgement as these red-clad guys stand on their own two feet and we will guaranteed hear more from The Dandelions in the future.
(Translated from Swedish)
- Rookie’04, Rockparty