This is the story of the most important Swedish punk band,
Ebba Grön, told through the band's music. And, strangely enough, the story proves to involve constant movement away from punk toward indie rock and even pop. But first, the beginning: This compilation puts much emphasis on the singles period before the band's first album, the period that planted
Ebba Grön as Swedish punk. These songs are undoubtedly less produced than the first album, but if that makes them more punk-like, they do lack the sheer aggressiveness, as well as the brilliant melodies, that made the debut LP the greatest Swedish punk album ever. Accordingly, when the first album was released, die-hard punk fans complained about the polished sound. But
We're Only in It for the Drugs, here represented by five songs, is simply a masterpiece. And on such an album, a song like "Beväpna Er" may be the single best Swedish punk song ever, if that hadn't been such an impossible claim to make. It may be a little less than punk in its sound, but that is more than made up for by the lyrics and the attitude. The rest of the album shows
Ebba Grön's development away from punk, mixing pop songs like "Mamma Pappa Barn," almost with a ska beat, with '80s indie rock. Even a number of slow songs fit in, with
Thåström's singing keeping up some of the attitude; otherwise, they are far from punk. It doesn't take much imagination to interpret the end of the album as a lack of direction among the members of
Ebba Grön soon before the band broke up. The tunes are OK pop songs though, and it is just as easy to see how, in its last years, the band was on its way to finding the sound that would make
Imperiet, including members of
Ebba Grön, the most important Swedish indie band in the '80s. On the whole, the album does impressively well in telling a story while at the same time including the most important songs. Some, like "Schweden Schweden," will be missed by fans, but that is inevitable. More emphasis is put on the singles than on the albums, but that doesn't mean that the tracks included are rarities in any way. To be honest, there aren't too many rarities to be found in
Ebba Grön's rather small catalog, and the track that comes the closest to qualify as rare may be "Nu Släckas Tusen Människoliv" -- but it is also the worst song on the album by far. ~ Lars Lovén