Format: Digipack CD album Cat#: arcd 089 Label: Adrian Recordings Year: 2009
1. Halmet 2. Millions 3. Sweet Beef 4. Least Loved (Of The Unloved) 5. I Am Your Sister 6. On The Map 7. I Was A Weapon 8. Reanimation Of The Dead Sea 9. Carry Your Weight 10. Northern
It’s beyond doubt that The Bear Quartet is one of Sweden’s most influential bands, and when it comes to lyrics, Matti Alkberg and Peter Nuottaniemi are second to none. It’s safe to say that The Bear Quartet, despite their hundreds of magnificent songs and lyrics, perhaps is music’s best kept secret.
“89” is The Bear Quartets 14th album. On the one hand it has all the typical ingredients from the bands career up until now. On the other, it sounds like nothing they’ve ever recorded before. The Bear Quartet never looks back and never stands still. And with this album they still follow their own road, this time it leads into the dark woods. It’s almost an occult album, dark, but still danceable indie rock. Or in singer Matti Alkberg’s own words, it “spans effortlessly over metal, kraut, Finnish tango music, afrobeat and punkrock, without once losing focus or becoming pretentious”. And it’s true. Traces of Black Sabbath melt with hints of Velvet Underground and Radiohead in the most natural way you can imagine. It’s completely brilliant.
