Caesars 'Strawberry Weed' album

Astralwerks is pleased to announce the new album from Stockholm, Sweden’s Caesars (Cesar Vidal, Joakim (Jocke) Åhlund, David Lindqvist, and Nino Keller) entitled Strawberry Weed, will be released on August 19.

Strawberry Weed offers the sort of power pop that takes the raw rock and R&B rage of mid-60s The Who, The Kinks, and The Rolling Stones as its starting point and then adds a Red Bull-fuelled edge to create an infectious new brew. Caesars may wear their influences on their sleeves, but their sound is fully clothed in a modern, rebellious edge that turns its back on their idols with the energetic wit and bite of defiant teenage power pop and punk.

The roots of the band dates back to 1993, when Cesar, Jocke and Ahlund inadvertantly formed a band in a noisy house in a middle class suburb full of musicians, skateboarders and 24-hour party people. Both their first album, 1998’s Youth Is Wasted On The Young followed by Cherry Kicks (in 2000) became underground hits in Sweden. But it was 2002’s Love For The Streets that cemented their status as one of the country’s most influential and popular bands, achieving Gold Record status and securing the band a Swedish Grammy award for "Album of the Year.” It was on the back of this success that Astralwerks released 39 Minutes of Bliss in the US, a compilation culled from these early albums. The international release of this album introduced the band all over the world and led to tours in the UK, Europe, US and Japan in 2003. However, it was in early 2005 that the track “Jerk It Out” jumped to international prominence with the iPod Shuffle TV ad. It was even rereleased in a remixed version on the Caesars previous album Paper Tiger.

After a long hiatus allowing the Caesars to work on other projects such as The Slaves, Big Bird, Smile, Forest and most notably Jocke Ahlund’s success with Teddybears in the US where their hit “Cobrastyle” and “Punkrocker (with Iggy Pop)” the band reconvened in the studio with Ebbot Lundberg, the vocalist and cofounder of Soundtrack Of Our Lives as producer. The goal was to get back to the roots of raw recording with an early no frills 60's style approach heard on the bands favorite singles of the period.

The result has already garnered two Top 20 Swedish charting singles: the infectiously propulsive “Boo Boo Goo Goo” and the one-two punch of the Farfisa organ and maraca that drives the pop nugget “No Tomorrow.” The album’s sonic map is rich for exploration with tunes as diverse as “Turn It Off”s overcast afternoon fuzz guitar stroll down Brian Jones-era South Kensington, London or the glistening pop of “Strawberry Weed” led by a bass line that could make New Order’s Peter Hook jealous.

After 10 years of recording, Strawberry Weed is Caesars definitive work- a package of instant pop whose flavors grow with repeated plays.

biography
Strawberry Weed, the new album from Stockholm, Sweden’s Caesars, offers the sort of power pop that takes the raw rock and R&B rage of mid-60s The Who, The Kinks, and The Rolling Stones as its starting point and then adds a Red Bull-fuelled edge to create an immediately infectious new brew. Caesars may wear their influences on their sleeves, but their sound is fully clothed in a modern, rebellious edge that turns its back on their idols. With the energetic wit and bite of defiant teenage power pop and punk, the result is a package of instant pop whose flavors grow with repeated plays.

It all began in 1993; in a noisy house in a middle class suburb full of musicians, skateboarders and 24-hour party people. As any frustrated bored youth with yet unrealized talent would, Cesar Vidal (lead singer) and childhood schoolmate Joakim (Jocke) Åhlund (guiratist), bassist David Lindqvist and Jens Örjeheim (who was soon replaced by current drummer Nino Keller) soon found that they were a band, playing last minute gigs without even a band name. This was the genesis of Caesars Palace, as they were first known before being forced to shorten the name due to forced legal issues. Armed with only rudimentary playing skills and attitude, Caesars produced raw, ear-splitting music that was soon released in a series of 7”s and EPs for the fledgling Dolores label, for whom they still record.

“We knew this guy named Isse, and he ran a record label down in Gothenburg in Sweden,” recalls Åhlund. “So when he heard the stuff –our first demo, and he just put that out right away as our first seven inch single. We had like 20 fans here in Sweden. But we got a good review in Maximum Rock’n’Roll for that single, which I’ve still kept. It says something like ‘This is good stuff if you like to annoy your neighbors.’”

The roots of the band’s current style were evident in those first recordings, according to Jocke: “We listened a lot to garage rock and psychedelia like the 13th Floor Elevators and Billy Childish and the Sonics and stuff like that, but also Sonic Youth and Pavement. In the beginningour sound was a little different from today. A lot rawer, but still with some great melodies somewhere underneath all those fuzzed out guitars. We didn’t have the organ at that stage, and since I’d just started to learn to play the guitar, I couldn’t play and sing at the same time, so there are none of those beautiful Beach Boys harmonies that we got to use later. But it’s still good stuff, and it’s not light years apart from what we’re doing now, just an earlier, more primitive version of what later became the Caesars' sound.”

Their first album, 1998’s Youth Is Wasted On The Young co-produced in a dingy basement by Jocke’s brother Klas Ahlund (Teddybears), saw that early rawness tempered with just enough studio know-how to result in a catchy, wickedly fun romp of an album. It was licensed in the U.S. by indie Minty Fresh Records, who christened the band the “Twelve Caesars,” which according to Jocke “it’s all very confusing for all the 200 people who may have bought the first record!”

The album did well in Sweden, however, as did the 2000 follow up Cherry Kicks, and 2002’s Love For The Streets-neither which received releases out side of Sweden. But Love For The Streets brought the band relative stardom at home, achieving Gold Record status and securing the band a Swedish Grammy award for "Album of the Year," as well as cementing their status as one of the country’s most influential and popular bands. It was on the back of this success that Astralwerks released in the US a compilation culled from these early albums 39 Minutes of Bliss. The international release introduced the band all over the world causing them to tour the UK, Europe, US and Japan over the course of 2003.

In early 2005 the track “Jerk It Out,” became the launch music for the iPod Shuffle TV ad and became one of the first digital singles to reach RIAA Gold Record certification. That same year, Caesar’s launched their new album Paper Tigers, that displayed a more lushly polished sound than ever before.

After a long hiatus allowing the Caesars to work on other projects such as The Slaves, Big Bird, Smile, Forest and most notably Jocke Ahlund’s success with Teddybears in the US where their hit “Cobrastyle” and “Punkrocker (with Iggy Pop)” (a song also recorded and performed by the Caesars), the band reconvened in the studio in 2007 to write new material and it became quickly evident that there was a creative explosion unleashed within Caesars and the band was realizing had a wealth of material and started to put the next album to work.

Part Brian Wilson, part Charles Manson, Ebbot Lundberg (Strawberry Weed producer who also happens to be the vocalist and co-founder of Soundtrack Of Our Lives) ruled the studio with flattery and threats to create something otherworldly. The goal was to get back to the roots of raw recording with an early no frills 60's style approach heard on the bands favorite singles of the period. The studio offered just what they needed: an old mixing board complete with a built-in whisky bottle holder and just enough space to live and record for a few weeks to capture the raw vibe the Caesars thrive on. The result has already garnered two Top 20 Swedish charting singles: the infectiously propulsive “Boo Boo Goo Goo” and the one-two punch of the Farfisa organ and maraca that drives the pop nugget “No Tomorrow.” The album’s sonic map is rich for exploration with tunes as diverse as “Turn It Off”’s overcast afternoon fuzz guitar stroll down Brian Jones-era South Kensington, London or the glistening pop of “Strawberry Weed” led by a bass line that could make New Order’s Peter Hook jealous.

Strawberry Weed offers both a familiarity and freshness in Caesars sound. One new aspect in the album’s depth is that Jocke and Nino step up to the lead vocal duties along with Cesar, giving the songs an individual soul like never heard on a Caesars album. And no Caesars album would be complete without internationally renowned artist Jockum Norstrom and the important role he has played in all of the band’s album art direction.

After 10 years of recording, Strawberry Weed is Caesars definitive work. As with this and of albums past, the band’s goals are relatively simple. “I really wish that people would put the record on when they are having a house party with their friends and just scream and shout and dance to it. Let your freak flag fly!”, exclaims Ahlund. “Or that they put it on when they’re all alone and sad and when they broke up with their girlfriend. Or put it on in your car stereo and shout along with the lyrics. I wish people would put it on in their headphones and walk around town feeling tough and cool listening to it. Or that it makes them want to kick their boyfriend out…or call him and make up. You know pretty much what I do with the records that I love best...”

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Tracklisting

Caesars - Strawberry Weed