It isn't often that you get to leave a message for a guy named Zok.
For this privilege, I thank Millencolin. A band originating from and still living in Sweden, Millencolin has gained a reputation over the years as a melodic punk band with a shifting sound.
As the years go by, "melodic" seems to be stressed more than "punk," but they are still one of the Swedist punk bands around. Just thinking about them gets me all hot and Sweedy.
The band is playing with Home Grown and Bombshells rocks (a fellow group of Swedes) at the Nile Theater tonight. Guitarist Mathias Farm (umlaut omitted) is excited about having some of his countrymen on the bill. "They are a great band to play with. They are a straight-up punk band, plain and simple," Farm says.
As for Millencolin, their sound is a little harder to peg. As with any punk band, somewhere around the fifth album, their followers begin to question how "real" the band is keeping it. Wouldn't you know it, Home From Home is the fifth album for Millencolin and the fans have them under the scope.
This is their second album with Epitaph. The first album, Pennybridge Pioneers, was produced by Bad Religion's Mr. Brett and was their biggest success to date. Home From Home, while No. 6 on the charts in Sweden and just in its infancy in the States, has already been the target of attack for "hardcore" fans.
The mild backlash doesn't concern the bandmates, though, as Farm explains. "Every band needs to make changes. We write our songs and sometimes they sound different from what we're known for. But that's what progress is all about. If we didn't change our sound and let our music progress I would have quit five years ago."
Part of the band's adaptive style comes from the music they listen to. They used to listen to a lot of NOFX and Bad Religion, as one could expect of any punk band, but the band's listening horizons have broadened over the years.
Citing influences such as Foo-Fighters and Weezer for their new 13-track album, the band's music is reflective of what they listen to. "You need to get influences from wherever, then pick up melodies and song structure. If you listen to the same music as you're playing, the music will stop there," guitarist Erik Ohlsson says.
"When we were younger we had dreamed of playing with Bad Religion and NOFX and we've accomplished that. It's not like you can ever get enough of those guys, but as far as new bands I'd like to play with, Weezer and Foo-Fighters are on the top of my list right now," Farm admits.
With all of this in mind, the gross change in style that a lot of fans are complaining about with Home From Home seems to be non-existent.
The songs "Punk Rock Rebel" and "Battery Check" are just a pair of songs that would blend right in on Pennybridge Pioneers. Most of the charges are probably levied, because, instead of punk-rock icon Mr. Brett producing this album, Lou Giordano (best known for his work with the Goo-Goo Dolls) produced this one.
While the men behind the scenes are seen quite differently, it doesn't make much of a difference for the band.
"Working with Mr. Brett was great, as was working with Lou. But we record the music we want to put out, and the producer's role isn't much more than laying some back-up vocals or mixing up the arrangement a bit, but it's not going to change the style of music we are putting out," Farm says.
Millencolin is touring the States only for about three weeks before taking a week off in glorious Sweden, and then they're back on tour in Europe. While they see a lot more familiar faces when they play at home, their shows aren't all that different from the ones put on here. In fact, in the last four years, the guys have only played a handful of shows in their home country.
"If you go up there and play a good show it doesn't matter if you're in Sweden, Australia or the U.S., the crowd is going to get into it. I like playing in front of my hometown audience, but we play in America so much it's pretty much like playing at home by now," Farm says.
The band's set runs through about 25 songs, 7 of which you can expect to hear off the new album. Since this is one of the few big punk bands that doesn't live a few miles from the Coast, we don't get to see them here as much. So that's at least one reason to head out and catch their act.
Millencolin is back in the States, home from home.
Reach Josh Deahl at joshua.deahl@asu.edu.
