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GenreRock & Roll, Alternative
Rank−
Albums7
Songs10
AboutHow about a bunch of thuggish-sounding, Stooges-inspired pounders from...Sweden? That's right, you American xenophobes, I said Sweden. In fact, I can think of few bands who employed the Stooges primal riff-thud'n'noise better than UCP. Fueled by the rampaging guitars of Patrick Caganis and Bjorn Olsson, and the half-octave, node-encrusted vocal growl (and did this son of a bitch growl!) of Ebbot Lundberg, UCP roared out of the blocks with an awesome debut record entitled In the Air Tonight which, despite its title, has nothing to do with the Phil Collins hit single of the same name. Sounding as if they worshipped at the altar of the first two Stooges records (with a little bit of the MC5's Kick Out the Jams tossed in for good measure), In the Air Tonight is not slavishly imitative, but is rather indicative of what UCP were all about early in their career: riff-heavy sonic overload, with occasional free-jazz blurting (Lundberg and Olsson both played sax) and walls of feedback. It was a huge-sounding recording, brutal, violent, its assaultive power leaving you breathless after the closing 11-plus-minute bashfest "Down On the Beach." In fact, In the Air Tonight could well be one of the great pre-alternative nation, proto-grunge records ever made. Certainly every fan of early-'70s Detroit rock should own one.
The follow-up, Financially Dissatisfied, Philosophically Trying (the title coming from a an interview crack made by Mick Jagger in the '60s) was less intense (more intense would have been unimaginable), but was still a rip-snorter, with Caganis' guitar sounding especially manic and exciting. At this point, UCP were the hip band of the Forced Exposure crowd, and it wasn't long before surly smartass Steve Albini was slated to produce them. The result, Swing, was merely okay, and a significant dropoff from the full-bore mania of In the Air Tonight. Too bad, since for a while, this exciting bunch of Scandinavians had the rock world by the collective throat and were squeezing, hard. Olsson began releasing solo albums in 1999; both Lundberg and Olsson later played together in the group Soundtrack of Our Lives. A Union Carbide compilation, Remastered to Be Recycled, was released in Europe late in 2004 and made its way to the U.S. the following year. ~ John Dougan, All Music Guide
WIKI-OGRAPHY
Union Carbide Productions was a Swedish rock band formed by [artist=]Ebbot Lundberg[/artist](vocals), Patrik Caganis, [artist=]Bjorn Olsson[/artist], Per Helm and Henrik Rylander in 1986.
Their music can be described as a fusion of psychedelic rock and punk rock — and a bit angrier and closer to stoner rock than The [artist=]Soundtrack of our lives[/artist] (the band that emerged from the ashes of Union Carbide Productions).
Though never really commercially successful, the band has received praise from artists like Kurt Cobain, R.E.M. and Sonic Youth. After the success of The Soundtrack of Our Lives, a compilation CD was released in 2004.
HISTORY
In 1981 Ebbot Lundberg met Patrik Caganis at a U.K. Subs gig. They shared a common musical taste in hardcore music, and the friendship that followed produced the forming of a punk band - "Sure Tråkings Trio".
During the years that followed, "Sure Tråkings Trio" was disbanded and Patrik Caganis spent a year as an exchange student in Minneapolis, USA. Going to gigs with bands like Husker Dü, Replacements and Soul Asylume, he claims to have been heavily musically inspired.
In 1986, Ebbot Lundbergs friend Emrik Larsson had tried out as a singer for a band called [artist=]Heartbeat City[/artist]. Emrik, (who was also the singer of the domestically famous Swedish funkrockband [artist=]Stonefunkers[/artist]), didn't want to stay in the band, and instead suggested that Ebbot Lundberg should audition. Patrik Caganis, a Heartbeat City fan, decided to team up with Lundberg and they went to the audition together.
Heartbeat City then consisted of Björn Olsson on the guitars and Henrik Rylander on the drums. The audition and jams that followed proved to work out well - fitting in Caganis' guitars with Olssons' and adding Lundbergs' improvised lyrics and melodies. After a while Lundberg brought in long time friend Per Helm on bass - an addition that also proved to add to the groups evolving sound. This composition formed Union Carbide Productions. They started writing songs, and on June the 14th 1986 they had their live debut. It took place at the "Save the Forest" festival in Gothenburg. The gig resulted in an amplifier hitting someone's head, and a crowd of skate punk friends creating chaos - a phenomenon that would set the key for many of their gigs to come.
At the end of 1986 the band recorded three songs at Music-a-Matic Studio in Gothenburg: "[lyrics=]Financial Declaration[/lyrics]", "[lyrics=]Summer Holiday Camp[/lyrics]" and "[lyrics=]So Long[/lyrics]". Since they had no record deal, the band paid for the sessions themselves. They sent a demotape to Carl Abrahamsson, the then editor of underground fanzine Lollipop, who liked the band so much that he got Financial Declaration distributed on a flexi-disc that was sold along with the fanzine.
In the spring of 1987, the band managed to get a record deal with the small label Radium 226.5, which released their first album "In The Air Tonight". One of the people running the company, Carl Michael von Hausswolff claims that "At that time nobody else was doing what they were into, and having a reputation as spoiled rich kids with outrageous behavior didn't exactly help them make friends with the media or the music biz. A lot was exaggerated, but not all."
Later the same year, they played at the Swedish festival Hultsfredsfestivalen. In 1988, UCP continued touring in Sweden and also did some gigs abroad. One of the more notable venues being CBGB's in New York where they were the opening act for another band. Before going to USA, Per Helm (bass) was replaced by Adam Wladis (bass) - a former bandmate of Henrik Rylander. During the tour, UCP continued to build on their reputation as a crazy live-act.
Before recording their next record, Financially Dissatisfied, Philosophically Trying, Adam Wladis quit and was replaced by returning member Per Helm.
During the years, the band changed its members a lot, but in 1989 they settled and appeared in their final incarnation, consisting of: Ebbot Lundberg, Patrik Caganis, Henrik Rylander, Jan Skoglund, Ian Persson and Christian Martinius.
Some of the band's material was produced by Henryk Lipp - a Swedish producer who has worked with [artist=]Millencolin[/artist], [artist=]Thåström[/artist], [artist=]Håkan Hellström[/artist], [artist=]Stonefunkers[/artist] and [artist=]Sator[/artist].
The band recorded their last album - "Swing" - in 1992 in Chicago, and it was produced by Steve Albini.
Ebbot Lundberg and Ian Persson later went on to form the successful rockband The Soundtrack of Our Lives, of which also Björn Olsson has been involved both as a musician and as a producer.
In 2003, they made a temporary reunion and returned to Hultsfredsfestivalen, sixteen years after their first appearance there.
TRIVIA
The name Union Carbide Productions originates from the company name Union Carbide Corporation that was written on a battery that [artist=]Bjorn Olsson[/artist] had, and that was involved in the Bhopal disaster in 1984.
The follow-up, Financially Dissatisfied, Philosophically Trying (the title coming from a an interview crack made by Mick Jagger in the '60s) was less intense (more intense would have been unimaginable), but was still a rip-snorter, with Caganis' guitar sounding especially manic and exciting. At this point, UCP were the hip band of the Forced Exposure crowd, and it wasn't long before surly smartass Steve Albini was slated to produce them. The result, Swing, was merely okay, and a significant dropoff from the full-bore mania of In the Air Tonight. Too bad, since for a while, this exciting bunch of Scandinavians had the rock world by the collective throat and were squeezing, hard. Olsson began releasing solo albums in 1999; both Lundberg and Olsson later played together in the group Soundtrack of Our Lives. A Union Carbide compilation, Remastered to Be Recycled, was released in Europe late in 2004 and made its way to the U.S. the following year. ~ John Dougan, All Music Guide
WIKI-OGRAPHY
Union Carbide Productions was a Swedish rock band formed by [artist=]Ebbot Lundberg[/artist](vocals), Patrik Caganis, [artist=]Bjorn Olsson[/artist], Per Helm and Henrik Rylander in 1986.
Their music can be described as a fusion of psychedelic rock and punk rock — and a bit angrier and closer to stoner rock than The [artist=]Soundtrack of our lives[/artist] (the band that emerged from the ashes of Union Carbide Productions).
Though never really commercially successful, the band has received praise from artists like Kurt Cobain, R.E.M. and Sonic Youth. After the success of The Soundtrack of Our Lives, a compilation CD was released in 2004.
HISTORY
In 1981 Ebbot Lundberg met Patrik Caganis at a U.K. Subs gig. They shared a common musical taste in hardcore music, and the friendship that followed produced the forming of a punk band - "Sure Tråkings Trio".
During the years that followed, "Sure Tråkings Trio" was disbanded and Patrik Caganis spent a year as an exchange student in Minneapolis, USA. Going to gigs with bands like Husker Dü, Replacements and Soul Asylume, he claims to have been heavily musically inspired.
In 1986, Ebbot Lundbergs friend Emrik Larsson had tried out as a singer for a band called [artist=]Heartbeat City[/artist]. Emrik, (who was also the singer of the domestically famous Swedish funkrockband [artist=]Stonefunkers[/artist]), didn't want to stay in the band, and instead suggested that Ebbot Lundberg should audition. Patrik Caganis, a Heartbeat City fan, decided to team up with Lundberg and they went to the audition together.
Heartbeat City then consisted of Björn Olsson on the guitars and Henrik Rylander on the drums. The audition and jams that followed proved to work out well - fitting in Caganis' guitars with Olssons' and adding Lundbergs' improvised lyrics and melodies. After a while Lundberg brought in long time friend Per Helm on bass - an addition that also proved to add to the groups evolving sound. This composition formed Union Carbide Productions. They started writing songs, and on June the 14th 1986 they had their live debut. It took place at the "Save the Forest" festival in Gothenburg. The gig resulted in an amplifier hitting someone's head, and a crowd of skate punk friends creating chaos - a phenomenon that would set the key for many of their gigs to come.
At the end of 1986 the band recorded three songs at Music-a-Matic Studio in Gothenburg: "[lyrics=]Financial Declaration[/lyrics]", "[lyrics=]Summer Holiday Camp[/lyrics]" and "[lyrics=]So Long[/lyrics]". Since they had no record deal, the band paid for the sessions themselves. They sent a demotape to Carl Abrahamsson, the then editor of underground fanzine Lollipop, who liked the band so much that he got Financial Declaration distributed on a flexi-disc that was sold along with the fanzine.
In the spring of 1987, the band managed to get a record deal with the small label Radium 226.5, which released their first album "In The Air Tonight". One of the people running the company, Carl Michael von Hausswolff claims that "At that time nobody else was doing what they were into, and having a reputation as spoiled rich kids with outrageous behavior didn't exactly help them make friends with the media or the music biz. A lot was exaggerated, but not all."
Later the same year, they played at the Swedish festival Hultsfredsfestivalen. In 1988, UCP continued touring in Sweden and also did some gigs abroad. One of the more notable venues being CBGB's in New York where they were the opening act for another band. Before going to USA, Per Helm (bass) was replaced by Adam Wladis (bass) - a former bandmate of Henrik Rylander. During the tour, UCP continued to build on their reputation as a crazy live-act.
Before recording their next record, Financially Dissatisfied, Philosophically Trying, Adam Wladis quit and was replaced by returning member Per Helm.
During the years, the band changed its members a lot, but in 1989 they settled and appeared in their final incarnation, consisting of: Ebbot Lundberg, Patrik Caganis, Henrik Rylander, Jan Skoglund, Ian Persson and Christian Martinius.
Some of the band's material was produced by Henryk Lipp - a Swedish producer who has worked with [artist=]Millencolin[/artist], [artist=]Thåström[/artist], [artist=]Håkan Hellström[/artist], [artist=]Stonefunkers[/artist] and [artist=]Sator[/artist].
The band recorded their last album - "Swing" - in 1992 in Chicago, and it was produced by Steve Albini.
Ebbot Lundberg and Ian Persson later went on to form the successful rockband The Soundtrack of Our Lives, of which also Björn Olsson has been involved both as a musician and as a producer.
In 2003, they made a temporary reunion and returned to Hultsfredsfestivalen, sixteen years after their first appearance there.
TRIVIA
The name Union Carbide Productions originates from the company name Union Carbide Corporation that was written on a battery that [artist=]Bjorn Olsson[/artist] had, and that was involved in the Bhopal disaster in 1984.
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