Asta Kask, Monster Squad, DCOI, Rat Damage, and Earslaughter at The Fire Escape Bar & Grill, Citrus Heights, CA
I’ve liked Asta Kask since around 1984. They formed way back in the infancy of the punk genre, and stuck around until 1986 before disbanding. They were the first band to play what would become the signature sound of the Swedish trallpunk (melodic punk) subgenre. They paved the way for bands like Strebers, Happy Farm, Total Egon, De Lyckliga Kompisarna, Rasta Knast, and others. More recently, non-Swedish bands have started to get in on the action – a case in point would be Japanese band Takahashi Gumi, who manage to sound quite Swedish indeed.
Vintage Asta Kask postcards:
(It must be noted that the band got screwed over by Rosa Honung records - apparently the label copyrighted their name, initially making it difficult for the band to release new material under the name "Asta Kask".)
In 2003, Asta Kask reformed, releasing a fine album called “En For Alla Ingen For Nan” (my isolationist keyboard doesn’t do the Swedish diacritical marks, sorry). The band has always been in the “I’ll probably never get to see them on stage” category, mostly because they spent 17 years not being a band, but also because Swedish bands rarely seem to tour through California. In fact, I think the only other Swedish punk band I’ve seen is Counterblast, and they’re not really even punk anymore.
Tour poster:
(Note the Prank Records blurb in the bottom right corner. A 7" reissue box set is due soon)
Sacramento is usually a little farther than I’m willing to drive to see a show, especially when the band is also slated to play closer to home, but in this case I decided to make an exception and travel the extra miles. Citrus Heights, where the show actually took place, is a suburb of Sacramento, and is also where my dad currently lives, so my brother Greg and I got there hours early so we could visit our dad. We arrived in the pouring rain, but by the time we were heading towards a local vegetarian café, the rain was gone and the asphalt was steaming in the late May sunshine. We all had milkshakes, which just seemed like the thing to do under the circumstances.
The venue, The Fire Escape Bar & Grill, proved to be in a suburban strip mall, with its name spelled out in lights. Some of the lights were out, so from a distance at night, the sign seemed to read “ape Bar & Grill”, which to me is a much better name. Inside, the walls were plastered with old vinyl, rock memorabilia, and flyers rescued from the eighties. Intrusive advertising leeched it of any real atmosphere, but it was fun to browse the musical detritus festooning the walls.
We discussed a billboard we’d passed, advertising “Oldies” from the sixties, seventies, and eighties. Since Asta Kask was playing, and if the billboard was to be taken literally, we were attending an oldies concert. I’m not sure when the eighties started being considered old.
When things finally got underway, it was around 7:30. The first band was called Earslaughter, and this was probably as good a description of their sound as any. They played by-the-numbers hardcore, but ultimately lacked any real character.
Local Sacramento band Rat Damage was similar, but with a heavier guitar sound and a vocalist who sounded like he could have been in an eighties Italian hardcore band. One song even started out sounding a bit like Saint Vitus before the tempo increased to the accustomed pace. Again, nothing new, but the guitar sound and the vocals kicked them up a notch in my opinion.
Greg and I, being about twice the age of most of the attendees, caught ourselves starting to sound a bit like Statler and Waldorf – the two grumpy old guys in the balcony seats on the Muppet Show. Perhaps we were being overly critical, but the bands sounded to us like pale imitations of the bands we’d grown up listening to. No new ground seemed to have been broken, although now that I read the trite phrase I’ve just written, I have to admit that I’m not a fan of literally breaking ground. That act usually results in a new block of condos appearing. Instead, maybe I should say that the hardcore genre seems to have stagnated a bit, and a lot of the genuine anger seems to have been replaced by mild frustration masquerading as anger. Or maybe it’s just the usual teen angst.
DCOI, from nearby Davis, were another decent hardcore band with nothing really new to offer. They got a good crowd response though.
Vacaville band Monster Squad, on the other hand, took things up a notch. Their songs were slightly more memorable than those of the earlier bands, and despite the fact that the formula was the same, they put on a good show, even dedicating a song to Asta Kask.
Asta Kask - Micke, Ernie, and Bonni
A familiar sounding classical piece served as an intro to Asta Kask’s set. Greg opined that it was something Russian, but neither of us could place it. Once on stage, the band ripped into Inget Ljus. The sound was great (they brought their own soundman along on the tour, ensuring that there would be someone familiar with the band running the soundboard) and I suddenly felt 25 years younger. It occurred to me that one of the main difference between Asta Kask and the other bands is that Asta Kask have always written memorable songs – songs that stick in my head. The fact that I found myself singing along with many of the choruses is quite telling, especially when one considers that they sing in Swedish. I guess if Abba can sing phonetically in English, then I can damn well do it in Swedish. The crowd, most of whom were probably not yet born when Asta Kask had their initial run, were really into it, flinging themselves around in throes of musical ecstasy. I found myself joining them, which is something I haven’t been inspired to do at a punk gig in more years than I can remember. I still have a lump on the back of my head from where it connected with the sharp part of somebody’s face. Old man in the pit! Run!
Asta Kask - Micke and Ernie
Most of their set was composed of old songs, with only 1 or 2 exceptions. I recognized An Finns Det Hopp, the opening song on their more recent LP (it’s also the title of one of their 7” releases, but I have no idea what it means), and it sounded even better live. They also played Lasse Lasse Liten (about a kid dying in a car crash, apparently), Ringhals Brinner, Dom For Aldrig Mej, Psykiskt Instabil, TV:N, Sexkomplex, and Valkommen Hem. I flung myself around happily, feeling a sudden sense of camaraderie with all of the other sweaty, stinky people doing likewise. I hadn’t realized before that the majority of the vocals are shared by guitarists Micke and Bonni – they have similar voices, gruffly melodic. In fact, the vocals, like everything else, were absolutely flawless. The band, with longtime members Micke (guitar and vocals), Bonni (guitar and vocals), and Ernie (bass and vocals), and relatively new member Dadde (from Wolfbrigade) on drums, were seamlessly tight. The band definitely didn’t sound like a bunch of 50 year olds trying to relive the old days. They sounded like they’d brought the old days with them. Hearing them play after more than 25 years of listening to their records made me incredibly happy. They all looked like they were incredibly happy to be playing, so I guess the feeling was mutual. They played an encore that seemed to contain almost as many songs as the main set, which was absolutely fine by me.
The show was over by 11:30, and I was home by slightly after 1:30, despite stopping in Berkeley to drop off Greg.
Asta Kask, Vaccuum, Young Offenders, Ruleta Rusa, and Living Eyes at SubMission, San Francisco, 5/26/11
The next night, I did it all again, this time by myself and much closer to home. In the hallowed tradition of punk gigs, the start time was about an hour off, which meant I showed up an hour early. It’s a good thing that Aquarius Records is only a 10 minute walk away from SubMission. I killed time by spending money on records and chatting with Jim Haynes at Aquarius.
When I arrived back at SubMission, the place was starting to fill up. The first band, Living Eyes, ended up starting early, and played such a short set that they actually managed to finish before they were supposed to start. Their music was high energy hardcore with occasional blast beats. They sounded more convincing than the similar bands from the previous night, and definitely didn’t outstay their welcome. The whole set couldn’t have been much longer than 15 minutes. They don’t seem to have an internet presence (or at least not one I could find quickly), so I couldn’t post a link. Sorry.
Ruleta Rusa looked and sounded more like a seventies punk band. There was definitely much more of a rock’n’roll vibe to their sound. One inebriated audience member spent Ruleta Rusa’s entire set careening crazily around the floor in front of the stage and attempting to knock down as many of the surrounding audience members as possible. The drunks the previous nights were kind of pathetic, but the drunks at this show were more in the obnoxious meathead category. Oh well.
Young Offenders looked like skinheads and sounded British, although I was informed that they’re actually a local band. They had a pleasingly melodic sound (at least compared to the other opening bands) and both guitarists sang. I probably would have bought something from them if they’d had anything for sale.
Vaccuum
Vaccuum played right before Asta Kask, and featured Robert (from Conquest for Death, No Statik, and the Terminal Escape blog, to mention a few) on vocals. The music was furious hardcore that seemed to surge forward like some sort of military attack. Robert’s vocals were more of a bellow than the high end rasp favored by many vocalists in similar bands. I was once again reminded of eighties European hardcore. This seems to be a sound becoming more and more common these days. Their set was briefly interrupted when one of the Young Offenders apparently got offended by another audience member and nearly started a fight.
Asta Kask
As far as I can tell, Asta Kask played the same set as the previous night, starting with Inget Ljus and ending, if I remember right, with Valkommen Hem. The sound at SubMission wasn’t quite as good as the sound at The Fire Escape, but it was definitely acceptable. Asta Kask’s sound was the best of the evening, although the vocals were less up front than they had been the night before, most likely due to the difference in the P.A. system. For the second night in a row, I was amazed at their combination of hardcore furiosity, melodic hooks, and good old fashioned fun. This time I stood back a bit so my bag of Aquarius loot wouldn’t get damaged. Gotta protect the vinyl.
Jello Biafra got up on stage before the encore and attempted to get the audience to make more noise for an encore. Noise was made. The encore happened. Fun was had. I keep hearing about bands reuniting and no longer having the spark that made them great the first time around, or bands who are financially motivated to the exclusion of all other considerations. I’m thankful that so far, all of the reunited bands I’ve had the pleasure to see in the last couple of years (Amebix, Deviated Instinct, and now Asta Kask) have put on great performances. In fact, I’m confident that this pair of performances by Asta Kask will end up on the top of my “best of the year” list.
Asta Kask on Facebook.
Asta Kask tour blog.
Here’s a video of the song Sexkomplex. For the second night in a row, guitarist/vocalist Bonni made fun of Finns.
And here's a video of the song Politisk Tortyr from 1984:
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