Swedish vocals
International relevance: **
With Borås situated only a couple of
miles outside Gothenburg, it might not come as a surprise that Borås
locals Thomas Ahlsén Band reveal some traces of Ensamma Hjärtan
and Huntington Band. But there's more to the curiously entitled
”Fåtölj...” (”armchair”) than that. Thomas Ahlsén
himself sometimes sings with a Stig Vig (of Dag Vag) inspired drawl, and
the album is rather diverse, spanning from the melancholy opening
track and album highlight ”Fåtöljen” with it's biting guitar
work, to the vaguely reggae influenced ”Gud bevare kungen”, ”Jag
har inte hört nå't” that draws heavily on Samla Mammas Manna, and
the moody afterhours semi jazz of album closer ”Vägarna leder dig
tillbaks” that moves somewhere in the region of later Blå Tåget and
Stockholm Norra. Actually, the album has a peculiar overall nightly
underground feel, even on the loudest track ”Bly” which borrows
more than a little from The Velvet Underground's ”Sweet Jane”.
”Fåtölj...” isn't an essential
album but it has a few things going for it. It's pleasant, and it definitely is more
interesting than most of what Gothenburg had to offer in
1979.
Ahlsén originally worked as a nurse and was a relatively unexperienced singer when he recorded ”Fåtölj...”. Guitarist/sax player Stefan Sandberg on the other hand had previously been in Modern Music Band, while drummer Rikard Olson used to be in Combo 8, Skrotbandet and, along with keyboard player Örjan Hill, in Lars Aldman & Haffsorkestern.
Full album playlistAhlsén originally worked as a nurse and was a relatively unexperienced singer when he recorded ”Fåtölj...”. Guitarist/sax player Stefan Sandberg on the other hand had previously been in Modern Music Band, while drummer Rikard Olson used to be in Combo 8, Skrotbandet and, along with keyboard player Örjan Hill, in Lars Aldman & Haffsorkestern.