Page Originally Created November 2nd, 1995
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History

Lousy consists of Mats Ohlander (vocals, guitar), Stefan Norberg (bass), Magnus Johansson (keyboard), Fredrik Magnusson (guitar) and Frederic Wall (drums).

The band was formed in february 1994 in Tenhult, a small town next to Jönköping, in the middle of Sweden. They have made three demos, which have received a lot of nice reviews, the latest one, "the Kurt Russell demo" in particular. When it comes to gigs, they have played pretty much and been well met, among other places, at the Hultsfred festival 1995.

But swedish record companies does not seem to like them that much, though they're not bitter about it. It is a bit frustrating sometimes but they have learned to live with it. And why be bitter when they're about to release a 7" single (with four tracks from the Kurt Russell demo) on a small canadian label called Sappy, partly owned by their favourite idols, Julie from Eric's Trip which also counts as one of the world's best bands in the eyes of a majority of Lousy. They do have some contact with a couple of labels in different countries, but nothing is decided yet.


Demography

[Demo Tape]

the Snowracer demo, July 1994, WSMR 003, Time: 16.00

1. Snowracer (3.00) 2. A Lousy Song (1.54) 3. Phil Mahre (1.53) 4. Artificial Turf (1.07) 5. Saphead (1.56) 6. Uncool (6.19)
All songs composed, authored, performed, produced, arranged and a whole lot of other -ed's by Lousy. Recording equipment and assistance by Tomas Sonnerby. (p) + © Meat Box Production KB. All rights reserved. This tape is no longer available.

Demo review in Pop #9: "In the big add-on group we find..." "..., Lousy (whippy, skate/hardcore/punk with charming titles like "Phil Mahre", "A Lousy Song" and "Uncool". Beavis and J. Mascis are members of their ever growing fanclub)..." "...can all make me jump high up in the air. If they continue to develop."

Scandinavian Indie review: The first demo. Made me realize that Lousy really started off influeced by the punk era, or should I say lo-fi? Using a naked, straight-forward piano, funk, ompelling rhythms, a lonely guitar and vocals that makes me think of Billy Corgan in the slower parts and screams, alarming wall-to-wall guitars and drums in the faster, I can't help loving this. Backing vocals with the openhearted way Mats Ohlander sings in the last song "Uncool" makes it a definite favourite of mine.

[Demo Tape]

the Las Palmas demo, January 1995, WSMR 004, Time: 16.00

1. Gocart 2. Binkley 3. Electric Boogie 4. Midiot 5. Larry 6. Hamster 7. Yogurt 8. Stupid
All songs written, performed and produced by Lousy. Recording equipment and assistance by Tomas Sonnerby. p + c 1995 Meat Box Production KB. All rights reserved. This tape is no longer available.

Demo review in Skrutt #19: "That Lousy aren't signed yet is really puzzeling and a big mystery. They mix their melodic pop with punk's frenzy and tough guitars. Their clever rock have a touch of Carter but I think that Wannadies, Popsicle and Gyllene Tider-organs have reached their thirsty throats as well."

Scandinavian Indie review: The guitars in most songs on this demo are pretty amazing. Fast, tough and wall-making. All the things I like :-). "Electric Boogie" starts off in a quiet, slow and beautiful way. The vocals are in perfection. Then it floods out into a punk-ish frenzy with frenetic drums, guitars and screaming vocals. "Midiot" is somewhat the other way around, and in that, my personal favourite. "Hamster" moves from slow to fast and back to slow again, with the best guitar-thread I've heard in a long while. These guys have great talent. I trust that's enough to get them signed.

[Lousy Kurt]

the Kurt Russell demo, June 1995, WSMR 005, Time: 13.00

1. Ouch! (1.46) 2. Heavy Metal (2.45) 3. Igloo (1.29) 4. Navel (4.12) 5. Bonus (1.59)
All songs written, performed and produced by Lousy. Recording equipment and assistance by Tomas Sonnerby. p + c 1995 M.B. Prod. KB. All rights reserved.

Ouch! and Heavy Metal have been mini-hits on a canadian college radiostation.

Demo review by Urban Århammar in Popöga #131: "Lousy from Småland are old friends in this column. But that will probably change pretty soon. The next time we hear about Lousy, it should be on a record. The new "the Kurt Russell demo" shows that they have refined their fast, heartly sparkling pop even more compared with their already good previous demos "Snowracer" and "Las Palmas". The sound image is more complete and if that wasn't enough, they're making darn smart covers to their cassettes. Lousy play at this years Hultsfred festival, breakthroughwarningflag raised."

Scandinavian Indie review: I was driving to Jönköping to visit my girlfriend when I first listened to this demo. Coincidence? I think not. This is brilliant, great to listen to while driving and even if you³re not driving, it's still great to listen to. The first song "Ouch!" made me think of Loosegoats with a synthesizer. When I reached "Igloo" my mind said Mouth with a synthesizer. And when the demo faded out of my speakers I thought: a mix between Loosegoats and Mouth with a synthesizer. These guitars, the bass and drums are really good for my ears, and there³s a touch of Janne Kask (Brainpool) in Mats Ohlander's voice, which can³t be bad. That leaves me with the synthesizer, which I feel should be left out in order to get Lousy signed right away. Maybe it³s just the whining sound or maybe it³s just me, but a song like "Navel" would be filed under "fantastic!" instead of "good!" in my head without it, and "Bonus" which is filed under "fantastic!" in my head, is untouched by the synthesizer.



Sound samples

[Lousy Logo 2]

from the Snowracer demo

[AU FILE] A Lousy Song (1.10MB) [AU FILE] Uncool (1.12MB)

from the Las Palmas demo

[AU FILE] Midiot (1.12MB) [AU FILE] Hamster (1.09MB)

from the Kurt Russell demo

[AU FILE] Heavy Metal (1.09MB) [AU FILE] Igloo (1.12MB)

Latest News

The Lousy record on Canadian label Sappy has been released! More info will follow. If you want to see the band live, go to the Emmaboda Festival! They play there on August 9th, 1996 at 5pm.

Contact the band

If you want to contact the band directly, write to:

Lousy
Box 137
560 27 Tenhult
SWEDEN

Phone: +46-(0)36-390185
Fax: +46-(0)36-91286
Email: magnus@lousy.pp.se

Looking Elsewhere

Here are some other Lousy pages you might want to check out:

Benno's Lousy page
Mandarin Lousy article (in swedish)


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Last updated Aug 3, 1996 by Erik Söderström
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