Fysisk Fostran – Räkenskapens Dag

The latest Fördamning Arkiv foray into Swedish music history results in this first time collection of Fysisk Fostran, an uber-obscure, near-teenage group active in the small northern town of Stenungsund from 1980-1984. Music geographically and aesthetically very much from the margins and not half. They only released a handful of recordings during their relatively short lifespan, and the quality is of audio is very much towards the 'crude' side, perhaps unintentionally, but in a way that helps layer the odd intrigue. Straddling a line between post-punk, industrial and proto-noise music, there's a half-finished youthful fearlessness to these eleven tracks that's weirdly compelling, like you're right there in the room with them, and it's fucking cold and the singer's spit has definitely gone in your mouth without your say so. Really romantic business. Obvious connections to Engürdetz, who you'll recall from the Happiest Place-issued retrospective from a few years back, and i also hear varying elements of Metabolist's metallic bang and blame, the lo-fi DIY energy of the early Apostles recordings and a little Cold Storage experimenting: all the good things, in bold art brut rendered smeers and gestures. A testament to that great adage: if it feels good, do it; if it feels bad, do it more.