Millencolin

NIKOLA: bass, vocals

ERIK: guitar

MATHIAS: guitar

LARZON: drums

Every now and then a band sneaks in under the radar, stealthily picking up fans while the masses sleep. Then, suddenly, they show up as a big, fat blip on your radar, swooping in low with guns blazing, cutting a scorched swath across the rock and roll landscape.

Meet MILLENCOLIN, a quartet of disarmingly affable Swedes about to blow your face off with Home From Home, their spanking new 13-track rock attack (Thank you very much, Sun Tzu!). Home From Home finds the band, whose back catalog has already SoundScanned over 300,000 units in the U.S. (with 1.5 million units sold worldwide!), sidelining the sonic doctrine on which they cut their teeth in favor of a powerful melodic assault; giving way to…”More rock. More rock!” laughs guitarist Erik.

Now, in a world where bands suffer for swapping styles, this might seem brave. But MILLENCOLIN, they’ve only souped up their sound. No forsaken roots here. They’ve simply progressed as a band. “You need to get influences from wherever, [then] pick up melodies or song structures,” says guitarist, Erik. “If you listen [repeatedly] to the same music as you’re playing, the music will stop there. Pennybridge Pioneers took that step even further. On Home From Home, we’re really starting to find our own sound.”

Est. 1992 in Orebro, Sweden by Erik, formerly of Charles Hårfager, bassist/vocalist Nikola and Seigmenn drummer Mathias, MILLENCOLIN’s Pennywise, NOFX, Operation Ivy and Bad Religion-influenced sonic doctrine would quickly make them a favorite in their country. In early 1993, they would record two ten-song demos, Goofy and Melack, adding Kung Pung drummer Larzon in between; Mathias being a better guitarist than drummer. Melack would arouse interest from Swedish indie label Burning Heart Records. In short order, the band had a deal.

Three full-lengths, Tiny Tunes, later renamed Same Old Tunes, Life On A Plate, and For Monkeys would emerge between 1994 and 1997. Until this point, it’s all perfectly congruent with any band’s story, except MILLENCOLIN had attained a level of success in Sweden which had them feeling adrift in a trendy sea, watching the original intent of the band bubble under. They would begin to tour outside of Sweden, reaching other parts of Europe, Japan, Australia and the U.S., which helped rekindle the flame.

Right about here is where they began to reexamine their sound, looking beyond punk and ska in search of something seamless and identifiably MILLENCOLILN. A step toward this was Pennybridge Pioneers, an album which Epitaph prez/Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz, having already shepherded the U.S. release of Life On A Plate, would request the pleasure of producing. A more straightforward rock album, Pennybridge Pioneers was recorded at the punk recording bastion, Westbeach Studios. “We really worshipped everything that came out of Epitaph and was recorded at Westbeach,” Erik confesses. “Going into Westbeach¾and with Brett¾was one of our biggest dreams, ever.”

After touring Pennybridge, MILLENCOLIN had reached the critical stage where, after four albums, it was time to make a sort of debutante disc introducing a band with a fully formed sonic identity. To that end, MILLENCOLIN enlisted producer Lou Giordano, known for his work with such punk cum rock bands as Samiam, Goo Goo Dolls, Lemonheads and Sugar. Giordano would fly to Sweden to begin work on what would become Home From Home.

Giordano and MILLENCOLIN settled into Mathias’ Sound Lab Studios for a pre-production session, whipping a batch of seventeen songs into shape. The next week, band and producer relocated to Little Big Room in Haninge, where the batch was whittled down to thirteen tracks which found MILLENCOLIN evolved beyond their influences and having made their statement.

And that statement would be …”More rock. More rock!”

And that is exactly what Home From Home delivers. The archetypal opener, a three-minute fist-pumping, “yeah-yeah” anthem called “Man or Mouse,” will become a live standard, as it’s also a perfect show starter. “Fingers Crossed” follows it up with a galloping punk rhythm that says hello to Life On A Plate MILLENCOLIN before bounding into two stellar examples of MILLENCOLIN circa now: “Black Eye,” with

it’s Samiam-style ringing/droning guitars and sweet Sugar-y vocal harmonies, and “Montego,” which recalls the anthemic quality of “Man or Mouse,” slightly subdued, but no less powerful. Latin-tinged guitars propel “Punk Rock Rebel. ” Kemp,” the first song written for the album, is another blistering melodic assault with a nice, juicy hook. “Botanic Mistress,” is bouncy punk rock bliss. “Happiness For Dogs” picks up the pace before “Battery Check” stops for mid-tempo reassessment of life.

On the homestretch, the relationship analysis “Fuel to the Flame” re-ignites things, the melodic political rocker “Afghan” puts the cards on the table, “Greener Grass” is bounding introspection, and “Home From Home” sings up the Swedish punk scene with Nikola and Bombshell Rocks’ Mårthen Cedergran doing lead vocal quid pro quo.

It’s a new and exhilarating ride for the band and its fans, and one that forecasts a long tenure for MILLENCOLIN, as they’ve achieved standout status by hitting upon a cohesive sound and delivering it with aplomb.

“What’s most important,” says Erik, “is it feels like we’ve created our own sound, but still haven’t given up our roots; never jumped on a new trend and completely changed sound all of a sudden. We’ve just grown into this sound from over the years and it feels really honest.”

This sincerity of sound that will further endear MILLENCOLIN to its rapidly growing fan base, which will get to experience Home From Home live this Spring, as the band prepares to beef up their already-impressive lifetime gig total (650-plus), with another world tour. MILLENCOLILN is justly proud…and elated. “It feels good,” says Erik. “Home From Home comes from the expression ‘home away from home,’ meaning simply that our band and being on tour has grown in to being our second family.”