Tag Archives: Sweden

IT’S TUESDAY. IT’S THE MORNING. I’M HUNGOVER. HERE WE GO. THIS WEEK’S DIYMVP COMES TO US FROM SWEDEN — A PLACE DEFINED IN MY MIND BY NATURAL PEACE AND TRANQUILITY.  IT WAS NEARLY A YEAR AGO THAT WE STUMBLED UPON FUCKING WEREWOLF ASSO, A BAND WHOSE NAME CONFUSES ME AND WHOSE SOUND DESTROYS ME AS EVERY PREDISPOSITION TOWARD THE SWEDES DISAPPEARS. FOR EVERY ATOM OF MY BEING THAT STILL LOVES THE VISCERAL FEEL OF DEGRADED ROCK MUSIC, FILLED WITH GUTTURAL SCREAMS AND SCREECHES, THERE’S AN ATOM RESERVED ESPECIALLY FOR THIS INSPIRING ROCK GROUP. IT WON’T BE LONG BEFORE WE’RE BUYING OUR PLANE TICKETS TO GO SEE EM LIVE — HOPEFULLY THEY’RE GOOD HOSTS.

COMPLETE CHAOS: HOW TO IGNORE THE CULTURE. HOW TO BE YOURSELF AND HOW TO DESTROY A VENUE IN THE PROCESS. TRUTHFUL EXPRESSION IS FOUND FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. HOWEVER, JUST SCREAMING INTRO A MICROPHONE WON’T WIN YOU ANY AWARDS. FUCKING WEREWOLF ASSO BUILDS BEAUTIFUL ARRANGEMENTS WITHOUT SACRIFICING A MELODIC RAPTURE. TAINTING CLASSIC HARMONIC ARRANGEMENTS WITH AUDIO VIOLENCE TRANSLATES WELL FOR ANYONE WILLING TO OPEN UP.

Punk doesn’t categorize it.  Metal doesn’t either. The boys behind the music have been hard at work for years delivering only what came from the heart — and this sappy sentiment is what separates them in a long line of Bandcamp bands looking for a break.  Tectonically, the music draws you in with time signature shifts that flow as naturally as anything else, melodic payoffs that beg you to sing, or scream, along, and tempo degradation. If it were an amusement park ride, it would be an old roller coaster that kills you.  Somehow, you’ve made it to heaven — the devil hates melody.

Back in 2008, Fucking Werewolf Asso released a demo.  It immediately defined the band as something post-emo (god, I hate that word). It immediately defined the band as one that had learned a proper lesson, pulling the best elements out of a dead genre and revitalizing it without genre at all.  Ditching the sappy lyrics in favor of poetics that would make any parent cringe, KID, JUST LETTTING YOU KNOW WE ARE DOING IT AGAIN quickly became a pinacle DIY release, at least in our community.  And, it was here that the band settled into their own skin as quickly as they appeared on the scene.  The album told a personal story, filled with sound clips that became more than they originally were as they filled up the killing field — and as anything stepped into the crosshairs culturally, it immediately became a target for sarcastic reprise.

Necessary for any success story is the old ideology of staying true to the self. If you’ve ever sat down to write, compose a song, or paint a picture you’ll know that choosing subject matter, a sound, a direction is as hard as writing the first sentence in a middle school book report (on something you didn’t read).  In fact, it’s one of the tallest hurdles any artist will face.  What do I sound like?  Who are my influences? Am I ripping them off or doing something original? These are all pitfall questions designed to quantify the unquantifiable. This is your mind playing tricks on you. It’s you thinking about something that should be completely thoughtless because if you need to think, you need to find another job. It’s not often that you walk into a dimly lit bar to see a band and get something pure. It’s not often that you get anything close to pure. Mostly, you’ll be able to pick an act apart.  ”These guys sound like x mixed with y.” It’s enough to make a man sick.

It wasn’t until the release of NITTIOTREMO that the Dingus team became aware of Fucking Werewolf Asso’s brilliant internet presence. “There were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little we went insane.” Never before has an opening clip summarized an album completely in four lines, but it was the truth.  It was true of the world, it was true of the music scene, and it was true of the DIY scene.  It was access, and we did go insane, some more than others as bedroom studios began popping up all over the world.  If the Joker had a band, it would surely be the Asso as I’ve come to nickname them. If you want to jump the gun, be my guest — these guys could be anything from Christian Boyscouts to street junkies barely able to afford the makeup they put on for their horrifying stage offering but that’s not what’s important.

What’s important is the fact that they’ve taken their innards, sliced them out, and shoved them in your face for you to taste.  So taste.  Because, unless they’re face down in a gutter, you better believe they’ll be assaulting you again. The band went on to work hand in hand with our very own DSL (digital singles label), The Snake Records and then to release a 7″ printed on white vinyl (classy stuff).  @Dingusonmusic

PS: There’s a videogame based around the band, downloadable here.  I have not played it yet, though I will.