The Last Screams of the Swedish Psychopaths
by Chuck Foster

Published in New York Waste

In a lonely place
In a lonely room
Lies a woman
On a bed of blood screaming
"I want cock
I want cock"
--"No Place", Singles Collection

Thus spake the unholiest of unholies, thee band known as Brainbombs.

Who?

Brainbombs. From Sweden. Their biggest "hit" (if that's what you call it) was a song called "It's a Burning Hell".

Uh...

Yeah, well, you can have yer Misfits and yer countless Danzig horror rock cliches ranging from psychobilly to goth, but when it comes right down to it, BRAINBOMBS are the one true horror rock band to ever press a record. No corpse makeup here--we don't even know what the band looks like, let alone what their names are. They make GG Allin look like Frankie Valli in terms of offensiveness. Not convinced? Try this out:

Her mouth around my cock
My gun against her head
Bang and blow her head off
And said
"Hey baby
You look a little pale
Are you sick?"
And I have lipstick on my dick
--"Lipstick on my Dick", Obey

So what's a "brainbomb" anyway?

Apparently, it's the sound inside your head when it gets hit by a hammer, as demonstrated by the album cover to "Urge to Kill". Musically speaking, that's exactly what they are. Crossing early Swans noise repetition with James Williamson Stooges riffage, they beat their songs into your skull until you have no other choice than to submit.

Over the past 20 years, Brainbombs have released four full length albums, a handful of singles, and they've only performed three times. Now as the year 2002 comes to an end, we see their final two releases:

The first is the "Cheap" 12" EP from Load Records, their muddiest lo-fi recording to date (which is saying a lot). The first side is four songs about humiliation, torture and violence in classic Brainbombs style: "Freak Accident", "I Wish I Was Dead She Said" (my fave), "Birthday Baby" and "Cum In Blood".

Side two is a remix of "It's a Burning Hell" by Atari Teenage Riot mastermind Alec Empire. Being a big ATR/Digital Hardcore fan myself, I was pretty disappointed by this as I know Alec Empire can do better. It sounds like he threw this track together in the six minutes it takes up on this side. Nevertheless, the first side is beautiful Brainbombs and worth every penny.

The Brainbombs swan song somes to us in the form of a 45 rpm 7" record from Tumult Laboratories, two songs probably from the same session which produced the "Cheap" EP. Side A, aka "Stigma of the Ripper", features some great slide-guitar work and a pounding rhythm which will make any fan smile. Side B is called "Street Cleaner", and I've got to say, what a perfect way to end a career. A mid-paced trash-rocker, this is one of the best songs they've ever recorded: "With my knife and with my hammer, I killed them all" shouts the vocalist in his signature Swedish monotone as the trumpet blares in call-and-response. (Yes, they have a trumpet player.) "I clean the streets from filth and whores...WASH AWAY THE BLOOD" and the song cuts off. What a fucking great way to end.

See, part of what makes Brainbombs who they are is that we don't know who they are. They could be unshaven overcoated perverts who roam the Bowery of downtown Stockholm, or they could be clean-cut stock-brokers who get together every now and then to feed their fantasies in a Scandanavian farmhouse. The fact is, we don't know and that's what makes it all the more disturbing. Imagine finding out that that friendly co-worker of yours is a serial killing necrophiliac cannibal rapist. Yeah.

So if you've never heard of Brainbombs, which I'm sure 99% of you haven't, and you like delving into the darkest corners of the human psyche, I suggest you check them out. If not, well, I'm sure the new Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park or Eminem album is real hard yo. On the other hand, if you're already a fan, I say you give these two slabs o'vinyl as a Christmas present to the last girl who broke your heart. And bring your hammer.

BRAINBOMBS
STIGMA OF THE RIPPER
7" - Tumult, 2003

Detta påstås vara den sista utgåvan från hjärnbomberna och det verkar inte helt osannolikt. Singeln sluter verkligen cirkeln. Omslaget är en färginverterad och spegelvänd version av deras första egna släpp, "Jack the Ripper Lover", och skivans texter är också en återgång till debuten, liksom dess titelspår handlar låtarna här om den brittiske seriemördaren Peter Sutcliffe. Mer känd som "Yorkshire Ripper" mördade han prostituerade och andra med skruvmejsel och hammare. Denne inspirerade power electronics-grupper som Sutcliffe Jugend och våra svenska hopp följer en röd tråd från den genren, Whitehouse och Peter Sotos, med allt vad det innebär i fråga om texter och teman.

Musiken är traditionell Brainbombs, men med en tydlig bas. För den som inte hört bandet tidigare är det traditionell rocksättning: trummor, bas och gitarr men med ett (för nybörjaren) överraskande inslag av trumpet. Den sistnämnda är minst sagt frikopplad och bidrar med sångarens svajande röst till att skapa det unika, psykotiska soundet. Det hela är mycket monotont. Bandet mal på ett riff per låt i fyra, fem minuter och ljudbilden gör att det låter som en stor maskin. Till detta kommer texter om mord och övergrepp. Trots, eller tack vare detta, har bandet fans i de mest skilda sällskap.

Texterna är mycket tydligare än på "Cheap"-tolvan men det är ändå en härligt grisig produktion. Första spåret, "Stigma of the Ripper" är snabbt och med slide-gitarr, likt "Jack the Ripper Lover". Dock är gitarren långtifrån lika psykotisk. Riffet är närapå svängigt, lite som "Ass Fucking Murder" på "Urge to Kill". B-sidans "Streetcleaner" är slöare och rentav eftertänksam. Sången är melankolisk och kompas av ett långsamt Brainbombs med tydlig trumpet, det hela ger en trött och uppgiven känsla. Textmässigt är det som det brukar, dock inte det grövsta de fått ur sig.

Allt som allt är det en ytterst köpvärd utgåva, bland det bästa Brainbombs gjort och trevligt nog på tung vit vinyl. Detta är verkligen en värdig avslutning från ett av Sveriges bästa band någonsin.

/ Johan

(Fat Bankroll)

Brainbombs – stigma of the ripper 7” [tumult]

Two thousand and three sucked for me. Musically, personally etc. this was one of the few bright spots of the entire year and it was tempered by the fact it was the end of such an awesome band. Damaging, low-fidelity [fuck “recorded underwater on a boom box in a garage in hell” sounds more like it], sludgy proto-punk [think Stooges, Drunks with guns, etc.] from this band of violence crazed Swedes. Two tracks [the absolutely crushing “streetcleaner”, and the title track], awesome stuff, pressed onto massively thick vinyl, possibly their “best” [if you can argue “good” with a band where “punch in the skull” is a more appropriate description] hammering, squealing, and ribcage collapsing as ever but at just 2 tracks not nearly long enough. Andee, PLEASE tell me there is some sort of posthumous odds-n-ends collection in the works or something!

(Matthew Bell, makeoutclub.com)

BRAINBOMBS Stigma Of The Ripper / Street Cleaner (tUMULt) 7"

Who would have thought that the joyous occasion of the first tUMULt 7" vinyl release would also bring such sadness and despair. But sadly it's true, the Brainbombs are no more. But thankfully, they've gone out with a bang. The bang being this grungy, scuzzy, pummelling 45 rpm, two song farewell kick in the face. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sweden's Brainbombs, think prime Stooges, recorded in a smelly sweaty basement, on a boom box, amidst scattered porno mags, corpses, weapons and human excrement. While a whining vocalist spits up mysogynistic and misanthropic tales of hyper violence. Then add in the occasional bleat of a demented-jazz trumpet and some fucked up fuzzy blown-tweeter bass. So good. And these two tracks are some of the best Brianbombs material ever. The A side starts with a stuttery, super distorted beat before the sky collapses and you're buried in a pile of violently squirming barbed wire guitars, while a ghostly, sort-of-Eastern melody weaves surreptitiously through the melee. Track two trawls similarly dark territory, a 'Fun House'-ish dirge with a warbley trumpet melody desperately trying to keep from being sucked under by the muck and grime. While the Brainbombs may be dead, they have not entirely ruled out the possibility of more mayhem in the future. But for now, this is a suitably brutal and brilliant epitaph. On thick white vinyl. And we mean THICK. Maybe the thickest vinyl we've ever seen!! Seriously, it's like a ceramic salad plate or something!

(http://www.aquariusrecords.org/cat/b15.html)