Malmö's Given the World Terrible Feelings

Malmö might be Sweden’s third biggest city, but it’s still small. So small, in fact, that the past decade has seen the growth of a political movement lobbying to incorporate Malmö into Denmark’s capital – and neighbouring city – Copenhagen as a lesser cool sidekick; a Copenhagen Mini-Me, if you like.

So, you know, it's pretty miniscule. Which makes the recent spate of kick-ass local bands all the more peculiar.

One of those bands are Swedish punk rockers Terrible Feelings, whose debut full-length Shadows just came out and is being released by Deranged Records.

I talked to them briefly.

VICE: Congratulations on your first full-length! What does it sound like?
Manuela: Thanks! I read the term “surf noir” somewhere. That pretty much sums it up.

Swedish bands usually sing in Swedish, and most punk bands tend to stick to their native tongue, too. But you sing in English – how come?
Manuela: Our lyrics are pretentious enough as it is in English, translated into Swedish they would be the musical equivalent of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, and I’m not sure that would be a good thing. One generally speaks and writes differently in different languages and English simply flows better. It was never a discussion.
Andy: As long as the lyrics are sincere and don't sound like they've been stolen from a Friends episode, I'm OK with any language. Best punk language is Italian or Japanese, though.
Anton: I'd say Finnish is the best punk, or at least hardcore, language. It's so snappy, it's like a machine gun coming out of your mouth. Just listen to Herätys. My reason for choosing English is the distance it offers between yourself and the lyrics you pen down. Writing in Swedish would inhibit me because I would get too self-critical. You guys are one out of a handful new Malmö bands. Are we allowed to talk about a "Malmö scene"?
Andy: For sure. Us, Hårda Tider, Vånna Inget, Bäddat För Trubbel, Slöa Knivar, Infernöh, Pyramido, MF/MB, Uppgång & Fall, Primitive Rites, Beyond Pink, Jealous Cowards… People keep moving here, so there are always hungry musicians ready to take over the world. I like it, it makes me feel part of something larger.
Manuela: People keep asking us this, and I would say that, as someone who’s been going to shows for ten years, there has always been a scene. People will always come and go; cities stay intact. The best bands from here, however, have been around forever. Have you heard Dipper?

I'll check them out. And you all know each other?
Anton: Yeah, and not only the punk bands, we know some shoegaze bands as well. The record store Rundgång is pretty much the physical definition of the music scene in Malmö. It's located in the centre of Möllevången, the Williamsburg of Malmö, in between the big square and all the nice bars. How is the Malmö scene different from, say, the Stockholm or Umeå scene?
Andy: Umeå is amazing, because it’s this tiny, remote northern town that has so many great bands, but a lot of them are just the same people with different instruments. Stockholm suffers from the capital city disease: people are too cool. Malmö is not much better, but since we are closer to the continent our bands tour more, we're not that cool and there are more musicians than bands.
Manuela: I just think Malmö has a bit more of an edge because gentrification hasn’t reached every corner of the city yet and you can still live relatively cheap. There are many ways to entertain yourself and meet people without having to spend money on subway rides or entrance fees or expensive drinks. Your tour just kicked off, how are you guys feeling?
Andy: Touring rules. It's the only way to make things happen unless you get a hit song like Fool's Garden or Hanson. My dream scenario would be playing Vancouver and getting interviewed by that Nardwuar guy.