Alonzo Fas
3
Alonzo Fas 3
(Spotify, CD, Vinyl)
This review is made from listening to the CD.
Michael ”Micke”
Alonzo was one of the singers in one of the original Swedish 1978 punk band
KSMB, a band that reached a whole generation of Swedish youngsters and gained
some mainstream success as well. At the height of their success Micke Alonzo
annoused that he would quit to become a “Pizzabagare” (work in a pizza restauran.) I never got the nerve to ask him about the truth in it. A few years
later he was back in Stockholms Negrer and got the neo nazi movments enemy #1.
And when they quit he been into politics, advertising, doing Tv and been writing
books as well as he owns a law firm. But I could tell he was really tempted to
be back on stage singing. After a failed attempt to reform KSMB he got together
with a bunch of guys from bands like Hellacopters, Refused and Nomads etc. A
Swedish punk supergroup you might say. Fas 3 as they named them self. It has a
double meaning, both it´s is Alonzos third phase (fas) in music as well it is a
very unpopular unemployment program launched by the Fredrik Reinfeldts right
wing/liberal government.
I followed the band during a series of live concerts during last year. And the
crowd was really there for the old KSMB and Stockholms Negrer tunes. In between
the band sneaked in some new Fas 3 tunes. I can admit that sometimes I hit the
bar or went to the bathroom during some of them. As well I wasn´t too impressed
with the singles during 2012.
I have gotten some inside info on the record in advance during the process and it all claimed this was going to be a great record. And so...Now it´s here!
In the first track “Det bästa som har hänt” (The best ever happened) they speed
up the Sympathy for the Devil verse chords in double speed and go for a knock
out. The song is about all of us punks that in the seventies did our thing
against all odds. And it grasps my heart and my spine in a way a record do when
it is something extra. Wow, they got their low-fi sound right on the record
that never really worked in the shadows of the KSMB song live.
after the up tempo opening they go on with “Ett meningsfullt liv” (A
meaningsful life) and it is from my POW the perfect song as the second song.
3rd track” Matilda”, a mainstream down tempo pop song that could been on a
recent Bruce Springsteen album or something. The single left me stone cold. On
the album after the two faster tracks it fits perfect. Here it is in its right element
and I find myself humming it ever now and then.
And now I listen on the lyrics and it´s dark undertones.
Ismer is a track where Alonzo is giving
the boot at all –isms that he is really fed up with. Feminism, Liberalism, Communism,
Nazism and whatever ism there is. Here his son Ali* helps out in the chorus.
OMG, it´s not a long time ago my kids did play with toy pirates with him.
Well times fly.
Then the record moves on in a perfected balanced way to be a record that is
close to a masterpiece. Alonzo Fas 3 has nothing to be ashamed off and with
this record the band takes a step out of the KSMB shadows to shine on their own.
Infact it is a candidate to be crowned the best record this year by 1,2 FYPR.
The slow “Varför skulle jag bry mig” (Why
should I care) is one of the real highlight on this as well as the ballad “Inte
ett ord till” (not another word). “När du inte är med” (when you´re not around)
reminds me of a punkish the Doors etc. The closing cocktail jazz number “lyxbegravning”
(Luxury burial) performed as a drunken after party jam closes a perfect circle
of songs that shows that the album format is still working like it used to do,
even in a time of clicks and internet restlessness. In fact this album is
important to define the greatness with Alonzo Fas 3 and confirm their existence.
Overall, this record have all the balls,
bollocks and mojo as well as honesty and strong melodies played by the super group
Fas 3 to become one of the soundtracks this summer. And I´m not shure that I
have discovered everything there is to discover on this record???
Worth buying? Hurry it´s already a classic record, not least because Petrus
Vavami / Micke Alonzos stylish and clean
record cover.
* Michael Alonzo have written about the struggle to have the right to be the
father of his son Ali in the book “Ge aldrig upp”.
Now they have released two new songs as digital 1 song singles, “Nu kommer dom”
(Now they are coming) and “Det kommer dagar” (There will be days). Two songs that are total different within the
Troublemakers universe, still typical Troublemakers tunes. In a band that been
around for more than 30 years, making records there must be a point when they
realize that they can do anything that comes into their mind. I guess this is a
result of it. The catchy radio friendly car stereo tune “Det kommer dagar” is possible
NOT the most angry punk tune recorded, and it´s far from their best tune. Not
that it is bad in any way, quite opposite. It sticks and it is such tune that
you find yourself humming after a while. I like it even If I liked last year
single “Stockholm” much more.
“Nu kommer dom” is much darker and harder. Here the Troublemakers take a
stranglehold on the illusion of that everything is fine. The lyrics take stance
in bad news. It might be about a conflict in Congo or Syria or a coming conflict
just around the corner. It is very clever written and I can make up my own mind
what the song is about. It is hard and heavy in the harder tradition of
Troublemakers.
