Prins Carl - Wake Up

Noise Of Sweden / Spirit Of The Streets (Bandworm) / Rebel Sound Records

 

Oi!, punk, metal, hell… even pop music (haha), it all seems to turn into gold when the musicians are Swedish and it must have been a long, long time, since I heard anything bad come out of Sweden. Of course I can’t hear it all and for some reason this was the case with Prins Carl, could have been the ‘odd’ band name, could have been something else, either way I never got my hands on a record by these guys until I received their brand new EP “Wake Up”.

 

Obviously “Wake Up” is not the band’s first release, but it is Prins Carl’s first 7” after their full-length albums “New Order” (2011) and “No Mercy” (2013) and it’s a co-release between Noise Of Sweden (who also released their albums), Bandworm Records / Spirit Of The Streets and Rebel Sound Records. Initially this EP was planned to be released in the summer of 2014, but after a small delay (ahum) it’s finally here!

 

And I must say I am pleasantly surprised by Prins Carl’s sound. Catchy, melody driven streetpunk / Oi! is what you can expect on this 45 with socially aware lyrics and songs for the workers’ rights. Favorite track is without a doubt “Riot Sq…”, I mean “Power In The Union”, that has Cock Sparrer written all over it. But instead of trying to invent the wheel over and over again, Prins Carl just took these influences and jammed it into their own blue collared anthem. Great stuff, just like the remaining three songs, “Fight Them All”, “Don’t Want To Be Your Friend” and “A.L.S.”, on this slab of wax!

 

If you like to sing-along to streetpunk anthems after a hard week of work where you can raise one fist in the air while the other one is holding a beer (and who isn't?!), Prins Carl is the way to go! But beware, “Wake Up” is limited to just 250 copies worldwide and comes on a red 45.