Strap yourselves in, Backengrillen are taking you on a death-defying, establishment-baiting, utterly preposterous and gripping ride on their fierce debut and eponymous album.
The slow rock-jazz build of opener ‘A Hate Inferior’ is soon met with a gut-punch scream and some visceral singing, jolting you to the ferocious reality surrounding our times. Jazz and rock collide here in spectacular fashion, a physical proposition, a discomfort as well as an epic throwdown to everyone not truly speaking from the body to the earth with honesty and musical love.
Songs average around 10 minutes and the unease and the dread they contain is akin to witnessing something horrific. You cannot look away though, it’s simply too dramatic, too rare an occurrence, too demanding of your focus, ultimately much more than just a heavy jazz record for only the brave to sink their teeth into. It is imperious, extravagant, essential.
The flurries and bursts of flute on the second track ‘Dör för långsamt’ as a heavy drum pounds away in the background and vocal stabs interject into proceedings are shocking, gorgeous, nasty. The vocals are doom-laden and clunky, reminiscent of brilliantly obscure Spanish band of the early seventies, Máquina! Replaced by a saxophone next, Backengrillen display their knack with the instruments at their disposal and how their hellish soundscapes, also glorious in their wasteland bleakness, are wielded in such succulent fashion.
The noisy punk rock – or even hardcore – moments are never forced or overwhelming, they accentuate the moods, the dynamics, the spell and strike of the music, effortlessly building, packing a punch, and receding again. The bouts of jazz are never far, always softening, experimenting, pinning songs back to somewhere not so dark and heavy, a haven of salvation nearby.
As the album reaches its fifth and closing track, ‘Socialism or Barbarism’, and the final notes fade away, despite – or perhaps because of – some gloomy and even distressing moments, it is extremely tempting to put the album straight back on, to enter into its world again, and enjoy the fruits of some passionate, talented, and truly inspired labour. These tracks demand your attention, full-bodied and relentless as they are.
Formed off the back of legendary Swedish band, The Refused, Backengrillen have an idea of who they are, the music they want to make, and to not waste time in doing so. This echoes throughout the entire record. As seasoned pros their compass is indeed in fine working order.
The cover is an old orange-tinged photo of the 1888 Great Fire in the band’s native city of Umeå. It exemplifies what is inside the musical package in a way that few album covers genuinely do. The ashes of what has gone before, the remnants mere memories, and, ultimately, the chance to rebuild – collectively – has never seemed more present nor necessary. Music, as always, is the perfect place to initiate that – both the dialogue and the ensuing change.
The band is already said to be hard at work on a second record which will be less silly and just as ugly. But – and surely nobody hopes the follow-up will be less silly at all – this has the perfect measure of that, and in the ugliness, there is something truly astonishing here. An early, oddball contender for album of the year lists? You bet!
Access to the album:
https://backengrillen.bandcamp.com/album/backengrillen-2
Backengrillen are:
Dennis Lyxzén – vocal and effects
Mats Gustafsson – saxophones, flutes and live electronics
Magnus Flagge – bass
David Sandström – drums and electronics
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Band Photo: Fredrik Lyxzén
