Dungen

Sweden is a peculiar country — their furniture comes disassembled and their fish taste like gummy bears — but they’ve put out some good music. For a nation with a population comparable to North Carolina, they’ve put out some pretty diverse stuff, too. While you can draw a straight line...

By Albert Ching

September 16, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18478561",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "16759093",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759092",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759094",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        }
      ]

Sweden is a peculiar country — their furniture comes disassembled and their fish taste like gummy bears — but they’ve put out some good music. For a nation with a population comparable to North Carolina, they’ve put out some pretty diverse stuff, too. While you can draw a straight line from the blonde-and-blue-eyed pop of ABBA to Roxette to Ace of Base, recent years have some of the most interesting indie music out there coming from the Scandinavian country, from José González to The Hives to Fever Ray (emphasis on “interesting” for that last one). Dungen fits right in with that crowd, gaining raves worldwide for their rough take on psychedelic rock. And befitting their often noisy tunes, they’re not ready to make nice. They skipped out on their major label after their 2002 record (the fun to try and say Stadsvandringar), and didn’t tour behind 2006’s Tio Bitar, mainly because, ummm, singer/driving creative force Gustav Ejstes didn’t want to tour. Their newest album, out this week, is titled Skit i allt — Swedish for “fuck all.” Oh, and unlike those other bands who hit big in the US and UK singing in English, all of Dungen’s lyrics remain in their native tongue. That gets them mad Swede cred.
Wed., Sept. 22, 8 p.m., 2010

KEEP NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.