Aston Reymers Rivaler were originally a
street band, and a continuation of obscure rock outfit Rockslusk who
subsequently had two tracks on a Sista Bussen tape compilation
entitled ”Mediokra hjärnor” in 1982. Aston Reymers Rivaler
released several albums in the 80's, but only the first three fit in
with this blog's timeframe.
Swedish lyrics, instrumental
International relevance: *
Second album ”Kräål”
(= the word ”creole” with a made-up Swedish spelling) was a bit
more polished than its predecessor, but similar in style. The
track ”Stockholms ström” was never released as a single, but it
quickly became a massive radio success nonetheless. A Swedish cover
of Millie's early ska hit ”My Boy Lollipop” entitled ”(Min
tjej) Sockertopp” is this album's cringe peak, while their first
full-on foray into reggae ”(Vi bygger om) Hela Stockholm” is
surprisingly credible with its mild use of dub effects. Fittingly
enough, it features Peps on backing vocals, clavinet and tambourine.
Thinking of it, it wouldn't have been out of place on Peps' own album
”Spår”.
A non-album single from around this time brought
the band another hit, as the anti-nuclear power calypso ”Godis är
gott” was released with the March 1980 nuclear power referendum in
mind. ”Godis är gott” and ”Stockholms ström” are probably Aston
Reymers Rivaler's still best known tracks.
For their third album ”Tvål”, the band switched
labels from the independent Musiklaget to major label Metronome which
may partly explain why it suffers from a duller sound. Also, their
patented gumbo of styles began wearing thin at this point. You may
not like the first two albums, but they were nevertheless bubbling
with joy whereas ”Tvål” sounds predictable and lacklustre. Album
opener ”Jakten på amazonkvinnornas guld” is a decent stab at New
Orleans rhythm & blues (with some nice harmonica work to boot),
but again, the best track is another brooding extended reggae number
called ”Det går”.
Från myggjagare till foträta full album playlist
Kräål full album playlist
Tvål full album playlist
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