Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
Mörbyligan was a unique band insofar
they appealed to both the progg minded, some punks and 'ordinary
people' who helped making the songs ”Snälla pappa” and ”Ensamma
Sussie” immensely popular at the end of the 70's. Their name
translate to ”the Mörby gang”, Mörby being a part of wealthy
Stockholm suburb Danderyd – not a place that usually leaps to mind
when socialist oriented bands like Mörbyligan are mentioned. Leader Åke
Bylund later took a sharp turn towards nationalist views – was Mörbyligan's
stance an honest one to begin with, or were they just being opportunists cashing in
on the general left wing atmosphere still prevalent at the end of the 70's? One thing's for sure, we can't ask Bylund as he died in 2005 from diabetes related
complications.
Bylund had been a drummer for late 60's
band East-West who released one 45 with an impressive version of Neil
Young's Buffalo Springfield song ”Mr. Soul”. In 1974, he founded
Chilly Chimes who released the ”Join the Army” 7” the following
year and also had two tracks on the 1978 various artists compilation
”Ljud från Friberga”. They changed their name to Mörbyligan the
following year, and released two EP's before making their eponymous
album debut.
It doesn't really matter if the
opinions Mörbyligan expressed were genuine or not, because the album
doesn't sound at all as fresh as it did upon its original release.
Their heavyhanded rock music comes off as faked and the humour
apparent on some of the tracks just sounds silly today. At best,
”Mörbyligan” sounds like the work of some Nationalteatern wannabes of limited talent.
Mörbyligan made six further albums up
until 1995, including the equally ignorable ”Järtecken” in 1980.
They stopped touring in the mid-80's due to Åke Bylund's illness and
hearing loss. He eventually took a swing to the far right and had a nationalist solo project as Odalmannen,
and wrote books inspired by Norse mythology, using
different nom de plumes.
Full album playlist with bonus tracks from second album
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