Wintertijd

Bob Dog Never Sleeps

One of the bands I've been listening to over the past years is Bob Hund. They are best characterized as absurd. The music is absurd, the band is absurd and the lyrics are even more absurd. I've written about them earlier, both as Bob Hund and as Bergman Rock, their English effort. Bob Hund sings not just in Swedish but worse than that, in a dialect called Skånska. Skåne is the southernmost province (Län/Landskap) in Sweden, and the natives speak something that sounds like it's borrowing from both Swedish and Danish. Many people dislike the dialect, but I've always had a thing for it.

One of my best friends in Sweden is from that place. Ever since he told me the story of a friend who picked up a woman in a bar in Malmö, the dialect has great entertainment value for me. They went to his hotel room and started making out. When the making out started developing towards sex, the woman interrupted him, saying: "Fisken är trasig, ta tvåan" in a broad Malmö-Skånsk dialect. Literally translated, this means "The fish is broken, take number two". Needless to say the gentleman was so worried by that statement he aborted the pleasantries on the spot. One does wonder what is meant by "the fish is broken".

Anyway, I've been listening to this live collection of Bob Hund. They make great punk music with unexpected and weird twists. I've seen 'm live twice, which means I recognize the energy with which they perform in the recording, including the semi-cynical comments made by the singer throughout gigs.

The track I've uploaded here starts with the sentence "Vår orkester heter Bob Hund och vi är de enda som kan säga det", and they are perfectly right. The band is called Bob Hund and they are the only ones who can say that. They are, by all means, unique in the music business. Period. Weirder than Fanfare Ciocarlia, more cynical than The Moz (although... that *is* a matter of debate).

Please enjoy Raketmaskinen from their live album Bob Hund Sover Aldrig.

Posted by Chris at May 16, 2007 03:40 PM