Biography    Reviews    Discography    Interview

More magnificent garage from Sweden. Torpedo Records has built a small but impressive stable of talent, and this is my favorite band of the bunch because of their power and flair for the dramatic. Their garage influence pool probably has a 60s end, but they seem to splash around in the 80s end most of the time.

Andreas Svensson's guitar switches from something close to jangly to a most definite snarl as Markus Wreland slams the crash cymbals to punctuate ever crunching chord. Andreas Hartman injects a shot of 60s with a powerful walking bass line or an ornamental flourish that leads me to believe he's studied the players of the era carefully before coming to his own conclusion. Clearly, this would be an entirely different band without him.

Finally, there's Alabama. Not the state, the keyboardist and singer. Her Hammond (which sounds suspiciously like a Farfisa at times) is an important ingredient of the band's sound, but it's her fragile vocals, in harmony with Svensson's, that is the key, the thing by which you can identify The Spyders within a few notes.

At this point I'm just anxious to hear more, but I'll have to settle for playing this five song EP to death. And you can bet I will.


DJ Johnson
Cosmik Debris Magazine

Sweden's Torpedo Records (www.torpedopop.com) has just released The Youngster EP by Gothenburg mod-popsters The Spyders.

There's a rough n' ready mix of searing guitar and 60's Hammond across all five (why just five?!) tracks -
all excellent garage-styled rockers.

Terry Hermon
Bucketful of Brains #58

The Spyders are a young 60s styled band from Gothenburg, Sweden and the aptly titled Youngsters EP is their second release.

Although their bio states that they are inspired by 60’s garage rock, they have a more ‘mod’ sound, more akin with British bands like The Small Faces, Creation and even The Jam.

The Spyders’ appeal lies not only in their youthful enthusiasm but also in their sense of exploration, as shown by the low-key psychedelic flourishes of (the badly titled) Summer Of Love.

My only criticism is that the band would have benefited from a more assertive guitar sound.

Neal McCabe
Pop On Top

Every now and then you stumble upon something that you didn't know exist but when you find you can't remember how you managed to live without it.

A couple a years ago I found Torpedo. A small record label and magazine in Malmö, Sweden. The realesed power-pop and wrote about 60's music. The music was in focus and I loved it. The new realese from the label is a true pop record for all of us that feel that its all about melodies.

The Spyders from Gothenburg have been around for a couple of years but know they have found a perfect form for the music. An updated version of classic pop, and thats something I can't get enough of.

If you love pop, real pop music, get this record. Its limited to 444 copies but the rumor is that new records is on their way.

The Spyders will keep you warm until summer!!!

Fredrik Magnussson
Luna Kafé

The Spyders are a band who show great promise. A highly energetic powerpop / 60’s outfit from Gothenburg in Sweden.

On this their second EP they take a huge step forward. Much in the fact that they take a step away from their before perhaps a bit too obvious 60’s influenses. On the Youngster EP they showcase a more new wave or mod revival-ish side which suits them perfectly, and the track Modern Girl holds a certain Billy Braggish quality and I can’t help but wondering how it would sound with only electric guitar as backing.

The title track, The Youngsters is another great track on this EP, where The Spyders work up a groove that could be compared to The Chords in their most extreme power chord loving moments.

The lyrics equaly holds the new wave/ mod79 feeling and I can’t resist the (all be it somewhat teen angst) charm in lines like ”we choose the truth from the dead end streets” and ”we don’t care what they say we won’t change anyway” etc.

On the down side though is the fact that The Spyders don’t take it one step further. To be painfully frank there are one or two quite tedious 60’s pastisches here.

But I figure they are the two oldest songs out of the five on this EP and if The Spyders just explore the new wave thing a bit more they can very well be the next big thing on the Swedish mod and indie scene.

At least I would welcome a powerpop revival!

Bengt Wallman
Uppers

När nu Göteborg utnämnts till P3:s officiella Popstad är det på sin plats att uppmärksamma den här fräcka kvartetten.

Denna nya femspåriga cd är en förträfflig introduktion, som blottar bandets rötter i amerikansk garagerock, som visar att The Spyders inte är mer renlärligt än att de vågar lägga ett discobeat bakom gitarrpopen, men också antyder att killarna är som mest stilsäkra när de hänger sig åt en melodistark och smidig kraftpop.

Avslutningen är bäst, med den snärtigt lättsamma Modern Girl i par med protopsykedeliska Summer of Love.

Det här bandet vill jag höra mer av.

Håkan Engström
Sydsvenskan

2. The Spyders
Song for You
(Torpedo Records)

Särdeles snäsig göra slut-låt och bästa spåret på en stark femspårs-cd, från ett göteborgsband jag hade velat se live.

Med rötterna i amerikansk garagerock och en gitarr som nästan fräter hål på trumhinnan låter det här som en oemotståndlig nästan-hit från 1966. Gjord i 444 numrerade exemplar. Beställ på www.torpedopop.com innan den tar slut!

Lennart Persson
Feber / Bäst Just Nu v 04

Bueno, bueno, bueno. Desde luego lo consiguen. Tres acordes y te tienen de pie saltando. Queriendo tocar con ellos. Queriendo ser ellos.

Este pequeño CD-EP del grupo sueco The Spyders (formado en 1996) está pla-ga-di-to de energía. Su sonido desde luego hunde sus raices en los sesenta, pero decididamente son una banda moderna, actual, que crea cancioes de su tiempo y abandona la tentación de queadarse en la recreación de sonoridades más o menos retro.

Y nos lo demuestran con gran convencimiento (The Youngsters, primer corte, magnífico), con muchas guitarras y con muchos órgano Hammond, e incluso amagos de sitar para la más desarrollada Summer Of Love.

Corre a por él.

Lugarteniente Perry
Otoño Cheyenne #4

Hoppla, seit wann wohnen die Boo Radleys in Schweden und nennen sich The Spyders?

Gar nicht wahr! Die Spinnenmänner (oder soll ich schreiben Spynnenmänner?) haben sich 1996 als logische Konsequenz ihrer Garage-Rock Plattensammlung in Gothenbourg gegründet, sind aber (wie wohl alle Schweden) über ihre Abba-Roots gestolpert und haben nun eine flotte Version Früh-Neunziger Britbands eingespielt.

Mal mit der Mod mal mit einem Surfbrett unterwegs: Die Spyders scheinen wahre Fortbewegungskönige zu sein. Neben dem Power-Pop Titeltrack überzeugen vor allem die mehrstimmigen Gesänge in Song for you und Hey Hey.

Die EP ist übrigens auf 444 Exemplare limitiert, eine Entscheidung die angesichts der guten Songqualität etwa so ist, als tourten die Rolling Stones auf ihrer nächsten Welttournee nur durch Hongkong.

Tipp!

Mirko Gläser
Headshock & realmusic