Auktion - D-beat R'N'R Mayhem CD Reviews in swedish can be found at the bottom of this page. Hardware Media & Radio: I have been trying lately to catch up with what is going on in countries like Sweden. It has a rich tradition and history with hardcore and punk which continues to this day. Auktion plays a mix of classic Swedish HC and the Discharge sound. Luckily it’s not generic. There are the dual male-female vocals, nice guitar work, solid drumming & bass work. The main problem here is in the recording and mix. In this style of music the vocals are traded off, but one comes out WAY louder than the other. On some tracks the guitar is much lower in the mix. Overall, it doesn’t distract from the final result. Lyrically, I can’t comment, since it’s all in their native language, but it definitely has an anarchist slant (a couple of the titles in English are “Kopps” and “Burning Policecars”). Graphically, the cd has a nice punk look, all B & W and graytones…many pictures of the band too. If you are fan of this style of hardcore, you will definitely find something to like here. Not bad at all. KILLED BY NOISE: You see the name of the album and you know all important. Just one distinction : they are 1% of d-beat and 99% of rock´n´roll. But it doesn´t matter, because they really knows how to rage on, and you must play it really loud. Auktion makes good hardcore / punk´n´roll stuff, full of hellish guitar solos and two screamo/yapping vocals. It´s amazing and 100% energic muzic, everybody must like it. Also i really like precisiously done artwork and booklet, coming with english translations of the (political) lyrics. Well done job at all. 1,2,3...go! (M) LOWCUT #28: Årh hvad, smadderpunkrock! And in Swedish, too, which automatically makes me think of Rövsvett, though these maniacs are way faster and way harder than Rövsvett ever were. (Even so, they give me the chance to mention Rövsvett all of three times in only a few lines, if for no pressing reason, other than I always thought that was a cool name.) For non-Swedish-speakers there's a song here too about "Burning Police Cars", which is probably a lot more relevant and constructive than worrying about Rövsvett (four times) or other old punk bands, which the band rightfully criticize in the liner notes for being "pointless punk nostalgia" (then again, they also sing praise to tofu and soy meat…). These guys are awesome, and it doesn't make it any worse that, judging from the pictures, none of them have reached 20 yet, plus they have two girls in the line-up, one them singing, though you really can't tell from the brutal roar of the two vocalists screaming their heads off over high speed punk rock. Highly recommended and quite healthy for you, too, with all the appropriate political opinions and their being a fresh, young band. If you dig: Zeke, Dead Kennedys, Rövsvett (five times) Grade: 4 out of 5 AVERSIONLINE.COM: Here's the debut full-length from this extremely young looking Swedish band who plays a very rocked out form of hardcore/punk with a dual vocal attack of fierce screams backed by even higher screams, and they actually manage to come across without sounding generic, which is really cool. Rock 'n' roll influences may be a very typical influence for a lot of hardcore/punk bands today, but these kids aren't rehashing typical 70's rock chord progressions or anything at all. Sure, every now and then a little of that will pop up, but the overall feel is much more of a modern spin on such classic fare, with a decent amount of melodic licks and some really nice lead work that seems a little tongue-in-cheek at times but does indeed add to the songs. "En Ny Generation Stöveltramp" is among the faster and more energetic tracks in terms of relentless vocal attacks and driving rhythms with a good sense for transitions, "Ett Liv Som Fånge" seems sparser at times but borders on some catchy elements and just has a different kind of sound than many of the other songs, while "Fördummad Av Status" is another fast 'n' fierce number with a good blend of hardcore and rock influences for another energetic and memorable minute-long blast of material. The production is pretty good in my opinion. I think they should turn up the bass since the guitars aren't all that thick, but the drums sound good, they do a good job of balancing the vocals and the guitars, etc. The guitar tone works pretty well for the rocked out nature of their riffing, too. The layout is all done in black and white with lots of collaged photos and a cover that clearly mocks the "Appetite for Destruction" artwork. The lyrics are a mix of Swedish and English and song explanations are included throughout. Despite standard attacks on cops, war, and that kind of thing, the only thing that annoys me about the lyrics are tracks like "Scouting the Target, Planning the Action" that are all amped up on "The Anarchist Cookbook" and encouraging people to take action and pose a "threat to society", which just seems immature and falsely idealistic to me (especially since sometimes their sense of humor isn't as clear on such topics). But other than that they do have some good ideas in place, and the content seems sincere. Not bad. I definitely dig the sense of creativity in their riffing style and overall approach, it's just that the songwriting isn't all that memorable or powerful to me at the moment, but as they grow into their chosen niche I think they'll progress nicely on that front. (6/10) Running time - 20:58, Tracks: 13 [Notable tracks: En Ny Generation Stöveltramp, Ett Liv Som Fånge, Fördummad av Status] Attack! Fanzine: While there are quite a few bands from the north of Sweden that claim to play d-beat rock 'n' roll Auktion is the only band in my opinion that are doing it for real. And we're not talking the Motörhead influenced crustcore here; we're talking Swedish kängpunk with loads of rocking licks and catchy riffs. Imagine if Grinners, The Hellacopters, Totalitär, and Bombstrike morphed into one band - this is what they would sound like. Mid-tempo Swedish d-beat with an equal amount of rawness and polished catchy-ness thrown in. And the result is damn satisfying, unlike many before that have tried this concept. And it's even more satisfying seen as this is the debut from these young boys and girls. Both female and male vocals and together they help bring the message of Auktion to the people. Racism, religion, patriarchy, cops, anarchy\u2026 the usual stuff young (and old) punks shout about. Not really new stuff, but never the less well written most of the time, and I get the feeling there are a lot of thought behind them too. There's also a track about cooking and one about how some people only care about the bands that were, and not the ones that are. "Support the bands and labels that is still around\u2026" - absolutely. The trade-off vocals are also doing their part in making this as good and "alive" as it is, but I keep wondering what this would sound like if there also were another guitar added? [Krogh, September 2005] Screaming Bloody Mess: No fucking around on this one. This is exactly what the title claims. Crazy rock and roll action mixed in with some d-beat ferociousness. These boys and girls come racing out of the dark woods of Northern Sweden kicking and screaming. Scratching the fuck out of you with dirty fingernails and the sounds of their powerful anarcho hardcore mayhem that brings to mind DS-13 mixed with 70’s heavy rock. This is the shit! Vocals sung in Swedish and English there is a strong socio/political bent to the lyrics but it is the angry guitars and fuck off drumming that is gonna stick in your head brothers and sisters of the d-beat revolution. Go and get. Skrutt zine: 13 songs in 21 minutes, it goes really fast,. I got the feeling that this should sound like Protestera and that´ås not a wrong description. Much of this depends on that is one male and one female voice which sings in the group and that they play hardcore. The only thing which is a shame with a group like this is that you don´t can hear what they sing about but then we´re lucky that we can get a lyricsheet. The lyrics is about things we´re used to hear but they have almost always a political styled style but even vegetarian food have got a tributesong. It´s nice to hear this type of music because it is cleansing my head and it´s nice with groups which shows their opinion about different things. Hey Kid is a really good lyric for us old punks which have records which is worth a fortune.(EIGHT) 18/8-05 Joyzine.se: Här har vi ett knippe asförbannad missnöjespunk. De flesta vet väl att destruktiva textrader i stil med Vi hatar dom asen/Vi hatar snutar (Kopps) eller Tear it up and burn it down/Burning policecars (Burning policecars) inte är min grej och rent av kan få mig att bli avigt inställd till en platta. Men jag kan tänka mig att se mellan fingrarna vad gäller Auktions naiva och stereotypa textmaterial. Anledningen är självklart att musiken på ”D-beat r’n’r mayhem” talar för sig själv. Bandet blandar upp sin kängpunk med en väl avvägd dos rock n’roll. Något som gör den betydligt mer lättlyssnad och livskraftig än vanlig standardkäng. Hela skivan är dessutom begåvad med en fantastisk produktion. Det karga metalliska ljud som verkligen lyfter låtarna skulle få vilken het metalproducent som helst att dregla. Nyanserna går fram betydligt bättre än vad som brukar vara fallet inom den här genren. Men framförallt ger ljudet ett uppkäftigt intryck, något som passar Auktion väl. Frågan är dock hur det betraktas av de mest insnöade diehardpunksen att ha en så här gedigen produktion? I min bok genererar det guldstjärna. Sången på den här plattan är ett kapitel för sig. Jag må låta trist och tjurig, men många punksångare är rent av usla. Här har Auktion två ess i rockärmen. En kille (Potin) och en tjej (Sara) växelskriker, vilket i sig är coolt. Men styrkan är att båda har förmågan att låta besatta, som två fradgatuggande pitbulls som inte vill något hellre än att slita lyssnaren i stycken. Det ligger i genrens natur att vara monoton och enformig, så när renset klingar ut efter 21 minuter har jag precis hunnit tröttna. Att få in 13 kompositioner (med varierat språk svenska – engelska) på den korta speltiden är bra och Auktion förtjänar cred. Nu är det bara att hoppas att de växer upp också. Gärna samhällskritiska texter, men varför ska kängpunkare alltid vara så plumpt enkelspåriga? Musiklandet.se: Washing policecars Oh, härlig booklet, och härligt omslag? doftar Umeå. Kvalitet utan att förlora punkkänslan. Auktion är Umeås rockigare punk-akt, och nu ska vi se hur det kan låta. Auktion spelar någon blandning av D-taktspunk, rock, och hardcore. Kan tänka mig att punkarna dansar vilt på deras spelningar. Det går fort, och det svänger. Det går väldigt snabbt och tajta solon viner genom mina hörlurar. Auktion låter väldigt välrepade, och väldigt stadiga. Det är nog deras starka sida, sen finns det en hel del annat som brister. Texter lika fåniga som bråken på en lågstadieskola. Ljudkvalitén och produktionen är i toppklass, guldkorn som "Hey Kid", och "Du är förtryckt" ger mig en stark längtan till att hämta gitarren. "Burning policecars", jag vet faktiskt inte om jag ska ta den här låten som ett skämt, förhoppningsvis grillar de inte polisbilar till vardags. I texthäftet står det en notis om att man ska elda på en stackars polisbil och sedan skicka in en bild på när man utför detta. Hur som helst? låten är bra, men texten är desto mindre begåvad. Det känns som att Auktion pendlar mellan någon slags punk och rock´n´roll-attityd. Visst kan man alltid blanda stilar och det kan bli väldigt bra, men också ganska surt. Auktion hamnar någonstans där i mellan. För övrigt har det släppts en retsam cover på "Burning policecars" nu på Internet, vid namn "Washing policecars". Jag skrattade nog i en halvtimme när jag hörde den piken. DÖDSCELL: Aaaaaaaaaaaargh! Med en skivtitel som denna har man i princip skrämt bortmig redan vid första anblicken! Jag gillar inte käng n roll/svängkäng(eller vad fan det nu kallas), och med tiden har min allergi tilltagit.Kommer det naturligt kan sånt här funka, men det gör det oftast inte - detblir krystat och tillgjort och jag tänker bara på JC-jackor ochpilotbrillemongon så fort såna band dyker upp. Nåväl, lyckas Auktion då?Jag blir faktiskt rätt förvånad själv, men det gör dom! Ljudet är litetunt, och då och då blir det för mycket käcka gitarrsolon, men på detstora hela lyckas faktiskt Auktion hålla mitt intresse vid liv helafullängdaren ut. Och det är fan en bedrift, del pga min aversion mot kängn roll och dels pga detta i princip är bandets debutsläpp. Låtar påsamlingar och liknande har visserligen sipprat ut tidigare, men Auktiongår i princip direkt på fullängdsformatet och detta med ett gedigetlåtmaterial. Det är en bedrift, och jag är övertygad om att Auktion är härför att stanna.