Demons (band)

"Demons"
Origin Stockholm, Sweden
Genres Rock, garage rock, garage punk, garage rock revival, punk rock, hard rock, power pop
Years active 1995-present
Labels Alaska Productions, Gearhead, Steer, Ruff Nite
Associated acts The Robots, The Turpentines, New Bomb Turks, The Dragons, MC5, The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, The Hellacopters, New York Dolls
Website Official MySpace
Members Mathias "Hep Cat Matt" Carlsson
Micke Jacobsson
Tristan "TJ" Jeanneau

Demons are a punk rock/garage punk band from Sweden. The band includes quotation marks in their name to differentiate themselves from other bands with a similar name. Their music has been described as "punk 'n' roll", but the band claims it should only be described as high-energy rock. Their musical style relies heavily on the energy derived from punk rock. Influences include 1960s garage rock bands such as The Sonics, The Standells and Shadows of Knight, The Velvet Underground, The Stooges and New York Dolls; and punk rock bands such as The Damned, The Heartbreakers and The Saints; and early hardcore punk bands such as Black Flag, Bad Brains and Dead Kennedys. "Demons" has often been compared to contemporary groups like New Bomb Turks, The Hellacopters and Electric Frankenstein.

The band established themselves in the mid-1990s Swedish punk/garage rock scene with releases such as Electrocute and "Demons"... Come Bursting Out!. "Demons" initially gained more popularity in the United States than in their homeland, and thus much of their music has been released on American record labels, most notably Gearhead Records based in Oakland, California. They have completed several US and European tours, including two appearances at SXSW.

The Hellacopters recorded a cover version of Electrocute for their final album Head Off in 2008.

Band history

In the late 1980s, Mathias Carlsson and Stefan Jonsson, both just thirteen years old at the time, formed the band Jawbation with school friends. Drummer Mikael Jacobsson joined later. Jawbation slowly disintegrated and morphed into a new band in 1994, which they named "Demons" on the advice of Lux Interior and Poison Ivy from The Cramps.

A session was recorded in 1995 which was supposed to be the bands debut album. It was never released but used as a promotion cassette called Strings for Hanging and Twanging. In the mid-to-late-1990s, "Demons" tracks appeared on many compilation releases such as Another Real Cool Time - Distorted Sounds from the North and released their debut single "Electrocute" on Ruff Nite Records. Their six-track EP "Demons"... Come Bursting Out! was released in 1998. The album was recorded in Sunlight Studio with Tomas Skogsberg (known for his work with The Hellacopters as well as several notable Swedish death metal bands such as Entombed). The band signed with Gearhead Records in 1999, and released their debut album Riot Salvation in 2000.

After the release of "Scarcity Rock" and its following tours in 2011 the band took a break. They resurfaced for a show in 2015 and recordings followed. In 2016 the Electrocute single was reissued for Record Store Day. In march 2017 the new single "Kids are Gonna Cry" was released by Alaska Productions. It had a strong anti fascist message. The single "Street Corner of No Return" awaits release later in 2017 as well as appearances with material in films, on soundtracks, compilations and split singles.

Band members

Current

Former

Albums and tours

In September 2001, "Demons" embarked on their first American tour. They were part of a package including The Nomads and The Fleshtones. The Nomads resigned from the tour following the September 11 attacks on World Trade Center. In March 2002, the band went on their second US tour. They began recording their follow up album Stockholm Slump with Tomas Skogsberg shortly after the tour ended. Before the album was mixed, "Demons" headed out to play the Scandinavian Gearfests (music festival coordinated by Gearhead Records) held in Stockholm, Helsinki and Oslo. After the album's release, they embarked on another coast-to-coast US tour, with the New Bomb Turks. "Demons" performed extensively throughout Europe in 2003. They toured the US again in 2004 after the release of Demonology - If You Can´t Join Us Beat Us, a collection of tracks from compilations and other rare recordings. In 2006, the band toured Scandinavia, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.

Following the release of the critically acclaimed album "Ace In The Hole", the band joined The Hellacopters for twelve shows on their farewell tour "The Tour Before The Fall. Some shows also included New Zealand band The Datsuns. The Hellacopters also covered the "Demons" song "Electrocute" on the album "Head Off". "Demons" continued to promote "Ace In The Hole" on tours in Sweden and Italy throughout 2009. A single "My Bleeding Heart" was lifted off the album for release and came out on the Italian label Tornado Ride.

At the end of 2010 "Demons" released the album "Scarcity Rock" which was more experimental than earlier releases. The band recorded most of it themselves on a portable studio in their rehearsal space. It was self-released on red vinyl with a free cd inside. Tours in Italy and Germany followed. After this the band took a four year break and resurfaced with a show, the reissue of Electrocute and the new singles "Kids are Gonna Cry" and "Street Corner of No Return".

Discography

Full-length albums

EPs and 10"

Singles and 7"

Compilations

Other projects

Carlsson's first band, Rabieshundarna, eventually evolved into Jawbation in the early 1990s. Carlsson has also worked with Belinda Kordic (formerly with STABB), on her solo project, Killing Mood. On her debut album "Just Another Love Song" he contributed with guitar, slide guitar, harmonica and arrangements on several tracks.

Jeanneau was musically involved in a large number of bands while growing up in Umeå, with styles ranging from blues to hardcore. In the 1990s and early 2000s (decade), he played with Fivel, Hypno Sex Rays and Handsome Stranglers. Jeanneau has played bass in a rock and roll-soul band called The Vanjas with Vanja Renberg (the daughter of Stefan Sundström) since 2008.[1]

The Crypt Kicker Five

In 1995, Carlsson formed the acoustic group The Crypt Kicker Five (also called The Crypt Kicker 5 and CK5) with Odd Ahlgren from The Robots and Vejde Gustavsson from Mazarine Street. Inspired by street music, primitive folk music, rhythm and blues and artists such as Dr John, they used a one-string acoustic guitar and homemade instruments to achieve a sound that mixed blues, gospel and country-inspired acoustic punk.[2] Later additions to the group were Joakim Ericson from The Nomads, Anders Graham Paulsson formerly with Atomic Swing, and Gustav Bendt from Monster and Moneybrother on saxophone. As a six-piece, they have released two singles, and evolved a unique style, with Ahlgren as a confrontational front man and the band performing their street corner brand of voodoo blues.

Matching Numbers

In the late 1990s, Carlsson formed the garage band Matching Numbers with Ahlgren, Ericson, and Björn Grunner. In 1998, they recorded a version of Suzi Quatro's "Daytona Demon" for the compilation Swedish Sins '99, released by White Jazz Records.[3] The band later included Paulsson on bass. Matching Numbers appeared on the compilation Riot On The Rocks Vol 2 released by Safety Pin Records, and released a split single with The Immortal Lee County Killers before disbanding in the early 2000s (decade).

References

  1. ↑ "The Vanjas". Rockets & Rockets. January 21, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Crypt Kicker 5 Facebook Page - Info". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "Various – Swedish Sins '99". Discogs. Discogs.com.
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