After spending last night watching 'Division 5' football in sub zero temperatures, with an all too real possibility of watching 'Division 6' football next year, I guess I should consider Division 7, although hopefully just the Swedish Indie band of the same name, and not because I feel that will be the level of football my beloved team will be playing in 2025.
They were actually a new name to me in January, although they've obviously got somewhat of a cult status back in Sweden, and they're a true indie band too, starting off playing house parties and weddings, and now playing good size indie venues across the country. But of course they're little known in the UK, mainly I suspect because they sing in Swedish and British audiences are generally quite narrow minded (who'd have thought?), although I guess we have a vast selection of English lyric music to choose from.
That's of course a shame, as the new Division 7 album 'Paradis Garage' is definitely worth a listen. The release opens with 'I detta paradis' ('In This Paradise'), which has helpings of 90's British indie in the guitar riff but opens up with upbeat driving guitars and a euphoric feeling, this is certainly not music to wallow in self pity. 'Stormen' has the same feel, happy anthemic indie music to sing and dance to at a live gig, and described in the notes as a 'soul rock smash' (helped by sax) and who am I to argue.
Tracks such as 'ingen ängel and the excellent 'Getungfabriken' bring the pace down, the 1st a bluesy melodic rock song, the latter a gorgeous emotional song accompanied by well judged strings and another anthemic style chorus. But the band are probably in the element with higher energy songs, and in 'Snake skin boots & Punkt Shop-pins' they add a level of darkness and intensity that I don't quite see in the rest of the album, yet it retains a catchiness that makes it easy to listen to.
A weighty release with 12 tracks, they finish with a great run of tracks, 'Vaeremerej' is a highlight with a searing guitar line, and vocals that remind me a little of Bob Hund (maybe I'm the only one who sees it), whilst concluding track 'Drömmen är slut' ('The Dream is Over') is another that reminds me of UK bands of yesteryear, but with twinkling keyboards, more sax and an extended dramatic conclusion that stretches the track to over 8 minutes - I'd have been happy if the instrumental ending went on even longer.
Of course I'm not going to judge the lyrical content, neither of my Swedish lessons would quite suffice on that front, but this is excellent indie guitar music, big guitars, even bigger tunes, a feeling of optimism sweeping through their music and a band who are clearly having a huge amount of fun in the process. The audiences might be slightly smaller in Division 7, but the rewards can be greater if you stick to what you believe in.