Moneybrother charges it
Thursday, October 4th, 2007
There’s more to Abba and Roxette.
Sweden, the third largest Western European country, has contributed a series of famous musical acts for decades.
Introducing Moneybrother, the brainchild of former punker turned soul/pop crooner Anders Wendin from Stockholm, Sweden. In his album “To Die Alone,” the first single “They’re Building Walls Around Us” shows his best imitations of Elvis Presley on the video.
His latest is “Mount Pleasure.”
He used to be the singer of ska-punk rock band Monster. In 2002 they disbanded. The other members went on to join the indie pop band The Concretes. Three years later Anders went on to become solo and released “Blood Panic” that catapulted him to the top of Swedish charts.
The debut album gave him his first award, the Swedish Grammy Award for Rock Album of the Year.
Lately, he is attracting a steady following in Germany. He has reportedly sold out tour dates in the country. In 2005, he appeared at the SXSW 2005 (south by southwest festivals + conferences). German rock band Wir Sind Helden covered his song “Blow Him Back Into My Arms” from his album “To Die Alone” in one of their concerts. Judith Holofernes singing in English! It was surprising as the band doesn’t have a single written and sung in other language than their native German so it must be a challenge.
Moneybrother also collaborated with the singer of The Hives, another Swedish band. Together with Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist they did a cover of an Operation Ivy song called “Freeze Up.”
I can’t seem to point out his musical direction but it has some traces of Abba with some added portions of Housemartins. It is strange. The organ, the voice, the works. But most of all, it is pop. And it is easy to digest. If you want to search for some traces of punk, don’t. You certainly will be disappointed.
This is “Reconsider Me” from “Blood Panic” album.
Moneybrother, Abba, Roxette, Sweden, Wir Sind Helden, Judith Holofernes, The Hives, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist
