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Honey Is Cool Biography

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During the second half of the '90s, Honey Is Cool was a constant contender for the pop crown of Sweden, but despite playing at numerous festivals and getting more press than most bands, they never managed to sell very many albums. The band was formed in 1994 by Karin Dreijer, drummer Johan Hagström, and bass player Staffan Larsson, who were soon complemented by guitarist Anders Göthberg. They recorded a demo which received a lot of attention and gave them gigs at the festivals in Emmaboda and Hultsfred, and a deal with Sun Spot. On this label, they released their first EP, Focky Focky No Pay, in 1996. The new drummer on the record was Håkan Hellström from Broder Daniel. The EP was well-received, and deciding to go to a bigger company, Honey Is Cool signed on to MVG and released Crazy Love. This album also got very good reviews and sold little. It is true that Honey Is Cool was not an easy band to sell, with Dreijer singing intentionally childish with an awful accent, and the music stopped just at the point of turning into something catchy. And neither were they ready to change their vision to increase the sales. Honey Is Cool's failure to sell and the record company's interference in the production of the next album made the band quit and set up their own label, Rabid Records. Hellström had returned to Broder Daniel, leaving a place for bassist Fredrik Wennerlund, and in 1999, keyboard player Carl Larsson left the band for Barusta, being replaced by Dan Lepp, who in turn was replaced by Tina Weibull. An EP in the spring was followed by Early Morning Are You Working in the autumn to the now standard good reviews and bad sales. The title track from the EP Baby Jane, being a Rod Stewart cover, quickly became a radio hit in 2000. But Honey Is Cool announced that they would take a break, since Dreier was busy with her new project, the Knife, and Wennerlund with Rockmonster. The decisive factor in this was probably the absence of Dreijer, since she had all along been the undisputed front figure, and probably creative force, of Honey Is Cool. ~ Lars Lovén, Rovi

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