Swedish vocals
International relevance: **/**
International relevance: **/**
Dom Smutsiga Hundarna were a Gothenburg
band, founded already in 1969 but with a volatile, ever-changing
line-up until their demise in 1983 (not counting rare reunions). They
performed at the first Gärdet festival in 1970, then augmented by
members from Träd, Gräs & Stenar. Their live appearances sometimes turned into exercises in
chaos, and they were surrounded by controversy from time to time, as in 1973 when
they recorded a session that Swedish Radio for some reason refused to
broadcast.
It took Dom Smutsiga Hundarna a further
four years before they got their album debut together, released by
MNW in the year of punk 1977. Some consider the forceful advent of
punk the death blow to progg (a statement that is up for debate for
many reasons). But while some bands felt lost in the tsunami of punk's frustrated fury, Dom Smutsiga Hundarna was rather
invigorated by the 'new' youthful sounds.
That's not to say that ”Vårdsjuk
blågul fanblues” is a punk album – it's firmly rooted in the
progg aesthetic and without a doubt that's where it belongs, but
it has definite punk shadings, especially in the vocals and sometimes in how they play, as on ”Med förtvivlans
mod”. Then again, you could possibly trace that back to bands such
as Love Explosion and Gudibrallan anyway.
I don't think ”Vårdsjuk blågul
fanblues” is a particularly good album but it's an important one in
how it bridges the gap from what came before and what was just beginning to happen.
”Hotel Cancer” followed in 1979
after a switch from MNW to Nacksving, the title and cover art satirizing both Coca Cola and The Eagles' worldwide hit ”Hotel California” in one go. It's a historically less significant album
than their debut, but with better production, tighter performances
and more realized songs. Some of punkier
tracks admittedly come off as a bit contrived, occasionally with a
faint Stranglers nimbus thanks to Bert Gren's organ, and sometimes
slightly in the Devo vein. But ”Hur ska du någonsin kunna förstå?”
and the title track are straight up prog. ”Vilddjurets återkomst”
is a great track, the album's highlight. Worth noting is that Arbete & Fritid appears as backing singers on "Att vara eller inte vara"!
A revised line-up released one further
Dom Smutsiga Hundarna album on Nacksving in 1983, ”Framtiden rusar
emot dig”. A couple of non-album singles also exist. Two further tracks are featured in "Progglådan", one recorded for Tonkraft in 1977 and the other possibly a studio outtake. Loads of unreleased pre-debut recordings can be heard on singer Ingmar "Tomten" Flurén's Soundcloud page, some very interesting stuff there.
Hotel Cancer no links found
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