IPO Stockholm 2016

 
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Artists From Stockholm

 
The Alloy Six – Formed by members of quintessential psychedelic garage rockers, The Moving Sounds and The Fourtune-Tellers, The Alloy Six play rock n’ roll influenced by the late ‘60s and early ‘70s music scene. Fuelled by Hammond organ and 12-string guitar, along with razor sharp distortion, solid drumming and spot-on bass, their sound will be an instant hit with fans of artists such as The Doors, The Electric Prunes, and 13th Floor Elevators!
 
Rodolfo Banegas – Combining the rhythms of his native Bolivia with the rich power pop heritage of his adopted homeland, Banegas creates sparkling uplifting folk-pop that will appeal to a wide variety of fans. His song, “La Miasma Cancion” was a Bolivian top 10 single in 2010, and his recently released debut album, Dreamers Math, has several songs that could easily follow suit!
 
The Beautiful Art of Decay – Influenced by The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, and Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie, this Stockholm quintet are “the other ones…the ones on the other side of the street…the ones your mother warned you about”…in other words, they write and play great rock n’ roll. Check out their We Are The Other Ones EP to see and hear what we mean!
 
Blasting Fondas – If you love fast-paced rock n’ roll, then you’re in for a real treat! You’ll get the gritty sound, the vibrant energy and melodies that will tickle your guts as well as your brains, but you’ll also get the chance to experience lyrics that are specific in their honest descriptions of human misery. Fans of The Hellacopters, The Boys, and The Replacements in particular with dig their Slightly Bruised debut CD!
 
Delory – Acoustic or fully electrified, Delory’s main goal in life is simple: to deliver wholehearted rock n’ roll, straight from their hearts to those of their listeners! Fans of artists from The Rolling Stones to Cheap Trick to Nirvana will all find something to love in their latest EP, Change, as well as their IPO showcase!
 
Don’t Cry Shopgirl – Lighthearted twee-pop extraordinaire is what you will get from this duo consisting of John Svensson and Astrid Wiezell. Fans of the Cloudberry and Sarah Records labels should definitely check them out!
 
The Genuine Fakes – When other artists look up to heap praise upon a band, you have to sit up and pay attention, and The Genuine Fakes are most certainly deserving of such! “The Genuine Fakes are proof of Sweden’s seemingly inexhaustible font of pop genius. Hitting all the right marks, they walk you thru the major required classes in the school of pop — chime, harmony, sparkle, and melody 101… surely these guys are on their way to being tenured professors in pop’s university.” (Ken Stringfellow, The Posies) You can begin your education with their most recent CD, Liner Notes, and watch out for a new one (co-produced by Jon Auer of The Posies and mixed by Anders Hellgren of The Merrymakers!), to be released soon!
 
JLB & Villa Borghese – The loosely coupled entity of Villa Borghese exists solely as the current outlet to perform the songs of singer/songwriter/guitarist Janne Leonard Borgh (aka Don Borghese) in a live band setting. Borgh, whether solo or in any of his band incarnations, certainly knows his way around a great melody and a catchy hook! He was a member of the first Swedish mod-revival band, The Moderns, who released an album on EMI-Parlophone and toured the UK with Echo & The Bunnymen in 1980. Fans of classic power pop and Americana bands – from The Beatles, Badfinger, and Big Star to The Records, The Replacements, and the harder rocking of Rush, will want to make a point of catching these guys at IPO, as whether there will ever be any proper recordings is still written in the stars!
 
Leon Lindström & Jonas Ellenberg – A special duo performance featuring members of Slim Loris, who wowed us last year with their alt country-inflected harmony pop. Leon was also a member of Celebrate the Sun, so you know they can also do sparkling pop melodies with the best of ‘em! Come check ‘em out!
 
Lovely – A four piece band who do their own three part harmony based ‘60s influenced pop songs with a rhythm and blues spice. The main influences are the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Kinks. As a testament to just how good they are at what they do, during their set at IPO Liverpool, one of the locals raved that they were “the best Beatles tribute band, without ever doing a Beatles cover!” Lovely consists of Anders Axelsson (rhythm/lead guitar, vocals), Simon Svensson (bass, vocals), Ulf Jonsson (lead/rhyhtm guitar, vocals) and Jens Wicksén (drums).
 
Magnus Lundkvist – His debut album, Mozart & The Sleepy Man, is a project that´s been in the making for a couple of years but now is finally done! The album features catchy radio-friendly melodies that will appeal to fans of John Mayer, and Nik Kershaw, to name but a few!
 
Rooni – Stockholm has long been known as the breeding ground of great power pop bands, and Rooni are no exception! Whether mixed with a touch of modern indie-rock or bubblegum/glam circa 1972, they deliver the insanely catchy goods that power pop fans live for! Check out their IPO showcase and their latest EP, YODO, and hear for yourself!
 
Standard Unit – A power trio playing music influenced from the rich variety of pop sounds from the ‘70s to the ‘90s. Whether garage, punk, power pop or psychedelic jangle pop is your cup of tea, this is a band for you! Don’t miss them!
 
Tray Full Of Poppies – Influenced by artists such as The Beatles, The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, etc., Tray Full Of Poppies is a harmony pop duo featuring members of Lovely (see above) created to celebrate their mutual love of melodic music. Even more reason to celebrate: they are recording songs for a debut CD, which we are definitely looking forward to hearing!
 
Tune Tank – Tune Tank is the next big rock band coming from Sweden. With a great feeling for song writing and the fact that the band consist of three brothers, it’s hard not to love it, whether you admit it or not.
 
The Virtues – Blending traditions from Americana Pop, Britpop, and classic Swedish pop, The Virtues will appeal to a wide array of pop fans – and have been doing so for quite some time! Their latest CD, Yesteryears, is actually a 10-year retrospective of their impressive career. If you like Teenage Fanclub, Led Zeppelin, Sufjan Stevens, The Shins, Neil Young et al, and have not yet had a chance to check out The Virtues, you owe it to yourself to do so…NOW!
 
 

Swedish Artists from Outside of Stockholm

 
La Fleur Fatale – We’re thrilled to welcome one of our long-time favorite Swedish psychedelic pop bands to their first ever IPO! With sweet vocal harmonies to put angels to shame and melodies to die for, When Darkness Fall, the latest EP by the Linköping-based quartet shows their range from gentle folk to softer harmony pop to rock and glam, all with their trademark psychedelic touch! It’s no wonder that Absolute Power Pop named it one of the “15 best of 2015”!
 
Half Sky – Spearheaded by Dave Callahan, front man and co-songwriter of the psychedelic Celtic rock outfit, the Drovers, with whom he made his reputation in the ‘90s as an electric performer and writer of catchy folk pop nuggets. While retaining his Irish folk influences, he has nevertheless explored heavier territory in his post-Drovers music, drawing on his longtime fascination with Neil Young, ‘60s garage bands, shoegazing, and – of course – the songwriting of Lennon and McCartney. Chicago’s loss is definitely Uppsala’s gain with this one!
 
Deborah Henriksson – A Västerås-based artist who finds her most heartfelt expression yet, bringing her ethereal voice to the 12 tracks ranging in genre from singer-songwriter to folk to world to Celtic with a little scent of country and pop on her latest album, Traces. Skope Magazine even gave it 5 out of 5 stars! “[U]nique musical offering, thoughtful and stellar sound! I rarely write words like this – really!” (Brad Halverson, Skope Magazine)
 
Mary Maple – A five-piece powerpop band from Sandviken/Stockholm whose main influences are The Who, The Beatles, The Jam, The Clash, The Primitives, Ramones as well as the Swedish bands, Docenterna, Sator and Popsicle. Their songs are filled with hooks, sharp melodies and spot on riffs. Mary Maple’s power pop sound is a splendid mix of Jonny’s distorted power chords, Lasse’s 12-string Rickenbacker jangle riffs, Stefan’s steady bass and Cederick as the solid drummer.
 
The Mop Tops – Fans of Rickenbacker-flavored power pop were absolutely floored by Inside, the 1995 disc by this band from Falköping. Since then they’ve appeared on several compilations, and at IPOs from New York to Liverpool in support of the long-awaited follow-up disc, Ground-Floor Man. None other than Little Steven himself was duly impressed when he caught their appearance at IPO New York, and we are thrilled to have them play IPO Stockholm! Check out their versions of their favorite songs by The Equals or their latest disc, Got To Make Sunday Funky!
 
Swedish Polarbears – A quartet from Karlstad who take their inspiration from The Byrds, Big Star, and Teenage Fanclub, but mix their harmonies and jangle with enough fuzzy guitars to satisfy those who love to rock! Their brand new album, The Great Northern, has been described as “The La’s meet the The Byrds and The Beach Boys and then they all go out to Starbucks to have breakfast. Beyond that words fail me…these guys are so good I want to kill myself. Seriously — I give up. Just shoot me now.” (Steve Simels, Powerpop.blogspot.se) And yes, they really are that good…just come to their IPO showcase to see and hear for yourself!
 
The Sympathy – A quintet from Gothenburg who wear their musical sympathies proudly on their sleeves! Their music is a fusion of R&B, punk pop, and Farfisa-fueled psychedelic garage that we think fit in just right when they played IPO Liverpool at The Cavern in 2014, but that we think fits right in at IPO Stockholm at PSB as well! Fans of The Animals, The Monkees, The Rolling Stones, and The Ramones will enjoy their Outside Of Town EP!
 
TOMMY WHO – The latest project led by Tommy Liljegren, one-time main-man of the great ‘90s band Stonecake, so we know we can expect a scintillating combination of classic-rock riffs, powerpop hooks, and psychedelic touches! Fans of The Rolling Stones, George Harrison, and The Byrds, et al, will want to check out their IPO showcase and be on the lookout for a debut album to be released soon!
 
The Why Oh Why’s – A cool band from Flen, whose edgy melodic small town garagerock/pop with lyrics about youth, love and to be or not to be is…not to be missed! Their debut album will be out soon!
 
 

International Artists

 
The Jeremy Band – The eponymous band led by one of the most genuine, nicest people on the pop scene, as well as one of the most prolific pop artists around. His gentle, John Lennon-influenced pop is as spiritual as it is melodic, and you can hear this for yourself on all of his CDs. This Michigander and his band can stake their rightful place in the IPO Hall Of Fame!
 
Dave Rave – He began popping very powerfully indeed a near quarter century ago as part of the legendary Canadian bands Teenage Head and The Shakers, and has often been referred to as “The Canadian Nick Lowe.” In addition to being one of the most entertaining and hardworking power poppers around, he’s also been known to display his jazzy side on several collaborations with fellow Canadian singer/songwriter, Mark McCarron. A recent CD, Live With What You Know, was nominated for a Grammy, as was one of its songs, “Anne Marie”, and his latest CD, Sweet American Music, is quite probably his best ever!! From 2010 to 2014 he played 50 IPO festivals in a row (yes, you read that right), and he still plays many of them…and we look forward to many more. Thank you, Dave!!
 
Hailee Rose – Any artist talented enough to become a protégé and backup singer of the venerable Dave Rave (see above) is bound to be worth a listen, and this up and coming young lady from Toronto is certainly deserving of such. Her style ranges from power pop to soul to blues and the power of her voice will blow you away! She is quite the dynamic live performer!
 
The Seasongs – A powerpop band from Madrid who add a mixture of folk, garage and psychedelia to their sound, influenced by bands like The Who, The Kinks, The Beatles, David Bowie, The Byrds, Small Faces, The Creation, Led Zeppelin, Supergrass, Ocean Colour Scene, etc, etc…it’s no wonder that the songs on all of their work, including their most recently released album, Buscando el Sol, bring to mind the British pop sound of the ‘60s and ‘70s, but mixed with a sunny Spanish flair!
 
Thorcraft Cobra – Canadian cold meets California cool in this power duo consisting of Billy Zimmer, formerly of The Brown-Eyed Susans, and Tammy Glover, who has spent the past few years touring the world as the drummer for Sparks! The lead single from their upcoming album, “Count Me Out,” reached #9 on the Alternative Specialty radio charts, and fans of artists such as Radiohead, Sparks, Jason Falkner, Raconteurs, and Cheap Trick will want to be on the lookout for said album!