The (International) Noise Conspiracy Albums (5)
'The Cross of My Calling'
Release Date 11/14/2008
Tracks 14
Label Burning Heart
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Live at Oslo Jazz Festival'
Release Date 1/1/2003
Tracks 10
Label Virus
See Album Tracklist and Review
'A New Morning, Changing Weather'
Release Date 1/1/2001
Tracks 11
Label Epitaph
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
When The (International) Noise Conspiracy dropped their second full-length in late 2001, they couldn't have had any idea that in six months' time, pop music's spotlight would be swinging toward Swedish punk, thanks to the worldwide success of the Hives. But the (International) Noise Conspiracy are as political as the Hives are cartoonish, meaning that -- especially with their firm anti-capitalist stance -- America may not immediately embrace the more radical-leaning New Morning, Changing Weather. Of course, that's not what it's really about. What distinguishes New Morning, Changing Weather is that, like the aforementioned Hives, the (International) Noise Conspiracy borrow liberally from rough, '60s garage rock and avoid the stodgy, bizarrely overproduced punk associated with North American bands whose names resemble license plates (blink-182, Sum 41, etc.). That not only gives a record like New Morning, Changing Weather a hell of a lot more fuel, but it opens the band up to experiment, whether it's in the use of horns or keys -- elements that most punk bands won't touch. And regardless of your attitude about the (International) Noise Conspiracy's pro-socialist political stance, at least they have something to get impassioned about, and that manifests itself all over the record. They break out into anthems all over New Morning, Changing Weather, whether it's on singles like "Up for Sale" and "Capitalism Stole My Virginity" or the fantastic barnburner "Born Into a Mess." Loud, messy, and passionate, New Morning, Changing Weather is everything a punk record should be, and is further proof that Sweden is one of the world's best exporters of rock music, even if no one had been paying attention until now. ~ Jason Damas, All Music Guide
'Survival Sickness'
Release Date 4/7/2000
Tracks 12
Label Burning Heart
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
When the 21st century arrived, there weren't many communist governments left. Cuba, China, and Vietnam were still communist, but formerly communist countries throughout Eastern Europe were embracing free enterprise; and the overwhelming evidence suggested that capitalism, although far from perfect, was a much, much better system than communism/socialism. Inevitably, all of these political developments would have an impact in the music world. The fall of communism throughout Eastern Europe encouraged a lot of new pop scenes to develop there, and some of those scenes favored unapologetically capitalist imagery. Polish pop of the 1990s, for example, was full of female singers who dressed like supermodels and looked like they were on their way to a trendy restaurant on Hollywood's Sunset Strip or Manhattan's Park Avenue. And the ironic thing is that while pop artists in a once-communist country like Poland seem to be going out of their way to flaunt their capitalist images and thumb their noses at the communists who used to be in power, you can still find some rock acts in Western Europe who stubbornly hold on to Marxist ideas. One of them is the (International) Noise Conspiracy, a Swedish band that pushes a very Marxist agenda on Survival Sickness. This is a band that praises Che Guevara, says it seeks to "destroy bourgeois culture" and "smash the neo-liberal agenda" (presumably, they dislike liberals because liberals are essentially capitalists). But once you get past all the tired, antiquated Marxist rhetoric, you'll find that these guys deliver some incredibly infectious, if derivative, rock & roll. Blending punk with the influence of 1960s British Invasion bands like the Kinks and the Who, the Conspiracy remind us how captivating simple, basic, groove-oriented rock & roll can be. You don't have to agree with the band's politics to find Survival Sickness hard to resist. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
