Swedish trio Svvamp’s self-titled debut was a breath of fresh air—unpretentious and free, primordial homespun classic rock that landed in the Top 20 Albums of 2016 in the Doom Charts consortium of writers and radio. The most common remark was how genuine and uncontrived it sounded, unlike most bands that posture and mimic the sounds of yesteryear.
So, it may be hard to grasp how fully realized the band sounds on Svvamp 2, while still sounding as laid back as their debut. Perhaps it can be partly attributed to the band’s jump from self-recording on a four-channel cassette deck to self-recording on a comparatively expansive SIX-channel system. That’s two whole more tracks to fill up! The obvious comparison to the groundbreaking psychedelic albums of the late ’60s, when artists began experimenting with studios moving from four, to eight to sixteen tracks, is fitting here too.
Svvamp is three friends—Adam Johansson, Henrik Bjorklund and Erik Stahlgren, all of whom share lead vocal duties—drawn together for the sake of jamming and a love of rock, folk and blues. Their resulting heavy psych sound bears hints of Cream, Eric Bell-era Thin Lizzy, CCR and Crazy Horse. “We definitely wanted to mix styles and genres, so the music stays interesting for the band, like the first record,” Johansson says. “Our approach is still fairly straightforward and live. And, all of us sharing lead vocal duties solidifies that the band consists of three equal members.”
SVVAMP 2 by SVVAMP