The Mare and Top Sound!

THE MARE



My love story with The Mare is a long and consistent one. They've sort of always been there, giving us a new bunch of tunes with a touch of mod pop now and then. You may have seen them before, at Emmaboda or perhaps in Turku, Hamburg or London. The latest release, the album "Time to", proves that this band still has a lot to offer us after over five years. There's something about The Mare that's genuinely heartwarming and uplifting - two qualities that this summer will hopefully also have with it. And an evening with them, the Smittens and Allo Darlin' has every chance to be all that - what a first evening of the festival this is looking to be!




TOP SOUND



The fabulous trio Top Sound have made elegant, francophilie tunes and the occasional one letter bossa in this idiot city since 2006, and they've surely always understood that producing such material is a matter of precision. And if you thought your summer was over in June, you couldn't be more wrong - because they will definitely not ruin a good thing such as this festival. I first came in contact with Top Sound when I needed a great act to open for the Would-Be-Goods the first time they played in Sweden, and my friend told me about them. I'm very glad he did. Don't forget to download the free web single on esteemed label/magazine Friendly Noise!

Little Big Adventure and Tiger Tape!

LITTLE BIG ADVENTURE



Little Big Adventure is Magnus Sätterström from Sundsvall in the north of Sweden. (Actually, Sundsvall is almost exactly in the centre of the country, but us ignorant Stockholmers believe it's way up north.) Six years ago, he took all his saved-up money and bought himself a Casio keyboard. Since he wasn't a very skilled synth player, he recorded everything note by note and put it together in the computer. And to hide all technical shortcomings, he added a monotone hum over it all. No-one could hear the gaps between the notes or the hum from the mic, because everything hummed. Luckily, there's more than hum to LBA's music. There's also quite a bit of hate, and quite a bit of beauty!




TIGER TAPE



Cosy Recordings are incredibly proud of its Moofish Catfish releases. Two cdr records that helped bring the band to a whole bunch of Swedish festivals, and a large UK tour. They've recently changed their name to Tiger Tape - no questions asked. The band's debut full-length, "I woke up in Hökarängen", was released in April (by Cosy and new label Lo and Behold) and it's probably the best album I've heard all year. Songs so beautiful that they make one's eyes tear, and so powerful that we get piercing stomach pains each time there's a new heap of material for us to hear and endorse. I'm very excited about seeing them in Haninge as it feels like the perfect place for them to play!

Sock Puppets and Moustache of Insanity! (and a sad announcement)

SOCK PUPPETS (Denmark)



When splendid Gothenburg indie night On Our Honeymoon recently announced that Northern Portrait were going to play there soon, they wrote that it might be the best Danish band ever. I think they're nice and all but I don't agree - the best Danish band ever is of course Scaredycat. And most of that lot are also in this quite new band! So, when an opportunity arose to squeeze them into Roadside Poppies' minibus heading for Haninge, how could I not grab it? Sock Puppets list many of my favourite bands among their influences, but I have to say they remind me of the Pop Tarts (yeah, that's meant as a compliment). Crispy and short and nice tunes!



MOUSTACHE OF INSANITY (England)



Nik and Bill were attending the festival already last summer. Or, actually, our Aussie-born friend Bill was playing with Allo Darlin' at Gula Villan in Haninge. And it's that 80's punk stage that will see Moustache of Insanity take it, this summer! How very fitting, one could say - among Swedish-born singer and songwriter Nik's fave bands we're happy to find the likes of Räserbajs, Style and Rough Bunnies. This act, with their songs about broken biscuits and Amazon wishlists among other things, are certainly no strangers to the indie pop crowd anymore. Last summer they played at Indietracks, and in just a few weeks it's time for a little tour in the US. The gig in Haninge will be their first ever concert in Sweden!



...and, that sad announcement then.
The Just Joans will unfortunately not be able to come to Sweden this summer, due to bosses at their workplaces being surprisingly unreasonable concerning that week.
They were really looking forward to playing for us and I hope/think they can come and do so in a not that distant future.