“We Are the Best!” is a movie set in the early 1980’s when traditional Swedish punk like KSMB started to decline in popularity. It centers around a trio of young girls making themselves seen through block-headed determination to have their uniqueness shine into the world around them.
Swedish punk music truly came alive in the 1970’s with bands like KSMB and Ebba Grön, and in the 1980’s hardcore punk became more mainstream in bands like Mob 47 and Anti Cimex (info from Discogs).
When I watched this movie, I had little knowledge of Swedish punk history. I hadn’t really listened to many old school punk bands not from the US or UK. While the movie doesn’t dive too much into niche punk bands and sounds, it supplies viewers with delightful, raw punk spirit through the three main characters, Bobo, Klara and Hedvig.
The film is based on the director’s wife’s (Coco Moodysson) graphic novel, “Never Goodnight”. I haven’t read it myself but the art style encapsulates the DIY nature of punk energy and the movie’s story does so too (this article has a few snippets from the book).
“We Are the Best!” was released in 2013. Director Lukas Moodysson, with the guidance of his partner Coco Moodysson, also created the screenplay for this film. If you want to watch this film, you can find it for free on YouTube with ads.
The Plot:
I am going to get into some spoilers for this film, so if you don’t want to read them, stop reading here.
Two besties, Klara and Bobo, are thirteen years old and tired of taking s**t for being young, girls, punk and different from everyone else. We see them compared to their stereotyped blond teen classmates and older boys and adults who constantly patronize them.
On an absolute whim stemming from justified anger, Klara and Bobo start making music and writing songs. The two do everything together. They’re completely reliant on each other, but still have their tensions sparking fights throughout the film. Eventually, at a school talent show, they meet Hedvig, an outwardly appearing Christian conservative with real talent for music.
Bobo and Klara recruit Hedvig to join their band and the three of them continuously get into trouble while opening Hedvig’s eyes to the world beyond Christianity.
After meeting up with other local punks and a few internal dramatic moments, Bobo, Klara and Hedvig have their first gig by the end of the film. They get raucous boo’s for being girls, but absolutely eat up the negative energy as fuel for their righteous performance on stage. The movie ends with the three of them being the best of friends and living up to their fullest punk potentials.
Why’s It So Good?
“We Are the Best!” does a phenomenal job at capturing and harnessing true punk spirit, realistic characters, history and tension. I love all the interactions between every side character, little gimmicks of getting free food, begging for money, just everything Bobo, Hedvig and Klara did together seemed whimsical and true to the nature of young teens trying to be themselves in a structured conforming society.
The music was also amazing. The characters had great dialogue about the music of the times (which I think is accurate, not really sure because my music history knowledge is poor). Scenes with classic Swedish-punk tunes like “Schweden Schweden” by Ebba Grön and “Sex Noll Två” tied the dialogue and history together with the raw emotion you get from punk tracks. You can check out the whole soundtrack list on IMDb.
The pacing of the film was also well done. Characters and events flowed smoothly from one triumph or failure to the next without losing my interest. Also, there were tons of hilarious and awkward interactions between children and adults that still occur today. I love it when a movie transcends time periods to show how actions between each other are still the same.
Conclusions:
I loved “We Are the Best!”. Lukas and Coco Moodysson created a wonderful homage to that awkward punk spirit I wish I had when I was younger, and they’ve made a piece of art that shows us why rebellious kids and adults will never die out as a fad ever again. People will continue to be marginalized for something they can’t control, so the only option to counter that is to be loud, stand tall, and join with your friends to fight for individuality.
I definitely recommend taking some time to watch this film with homies, besties, buds, friends, companions, really anyone that you’re close to because it will make you all smile without fail.
Sometimes when I talk about genres, I’m accused of making them up. I think this is fair, especially when it comes to egg punk.
I’ve been listening to egg punk since 2019, though I never knew that there was a name for the “weird punk stuff” I’d play while filing through backstock at my old retail job.
Anti-Genre
Egg punk is, for all intents and purposes, a satirical genre born from internet chatrooms.
Apparently inspired by the works and aesthetic of DEVO, egg punk is mild, colorful and imbued with a new wave influence that sets it apart from other punk genres.
Cover for “DOG” by Snooper
While some sources claim the genre got its start in 2013 as a response to the abject overseriousness of “chain punks,” there isn’t anything scholarly (that I could find, at least) to support this.
This distinction isn’t to be taken too seriously, either. The egg-chain dichotomy is, at its core, mere meme fuel.
The Sound and Style
All the same, it’s pretty easy to identify.
Egg punk music is inherently unserious, energetic and ironic. With firm roots in punk’s DIY style, egg punk bands use minimal recording and mixing and cheap synths.
Cover for “Grass” by Powerplant
The result is music that sounds transfused by static, but in a strangely good way.
The genre can also be distinguished by its art style, which draws from both DIY and experimentalism. Egg punk band album covers often appear hand-drawn or collaged.
Surprise! I’m not writing about local or hardcore music. Instead I’m doing a small break from loud noise and focusing on Amaara.
Amaara is a moniker for “multimedia” artist, Kaelen Ohm, and “Child of Venus” is the first full length album released by Ohm. The album is a blend of pop, ethereal sounds and smooth, syrupy vocals.
“Child of Venus” was released earlier this year on July 7. I have been listening to it as soon as it popped up on my Bandcamp page because the album art looked intriguing, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Ohm wrote, composed and produced every song on the album. She also performs vocals, synths, guitar, piano, bass and backing vocals. Ohm got some help in the percussion, and wasn’t able to do that herself. It’s extremely impressive to me to see artists able to conquer all these instruments and have tons of talent to create a whole album like this.
The album opens with “Child of Venus”, the title track, but I found this song to be way stronger and impressive. It literally opens with “a shot to the heart” and the album continues to escalate from this point (Ohm’s Lyrics on Bandcamp).
Easily a new love, akin to Lana Del Ray in vocals and vibe, but still Amaara is her own unique recipe of gooey, ghostly and good songs. The music video is a lil’ silly, but the song remains one of my favorites on this album.
Absolutely my favorite track of this whole release. The slow build up into the “Visions” half of this song really keeps me 100% involved every second of it. I love the windy road and adventure we go on by listening to this track.
Conclusions
This album’s got a few slow moments, maybe even a couple of dull ones (*cough* “Still” *cough*) – either way, I think Amaara’s got a lot of great energy going into her style and sound. I’ll absolutely keep listening to my favorite tracks and be on the constant lookout for new projects by both Amaara and Ohm herself.
Partly as a function of being a DJ and partly as a function of being neurodivergent, I spend a lot of time “crate diving” through sprawls of Spotify playlists and recommendations.
While these efforts usually lead me to simply find more songs by artists I already know (for some reason, the algorithm really wants me to listen to Joy Division’s “Disorder”), there’s also the rare (but cherished) occasion that I discover an artist unknown both to me and by many others in the scene.
This week, I’ve put together a small selection of “obscure” artists I personally enjoy in the hope of growing their listener base and giving them some much-deserved recognition.
Soma Cake
With only 900 monthly listeners, this band is probably the most obscure on this list.
Based in Reynosa, Mexico, Soma Cake walks the line between the realms of darkwave, post-punk, dreampop and jangle rock.
The band hit the scene in 2018 with the release of “Manual Para los Recién Fallecidos” (“Manual For the Recently Deceased”), which features tracks recorded between 2016 and 2017.
Cover for “Manual Para los Recién Fallecidos” by Soma Cake
This album has a distinct gothic tone, though with jangly — rather than consistently distorted — guitars.
The presence of live drums, rather than a drum machine, is also an interesting touch. And while the band makes use of synths, their end product has more of a nostalgic deathrock feel.
While “Manual Para los Recién Fallecidos” is technically the band’s first release, they consider their first “real” album to be ”Girls Bite Harder.“
Released April 2018, the album is a stark turn from its predecessor’s clear goth influence. Rather, the album is a font of dreampop, jangle and shoegaze.
My first encounter with Soma Cake came with their 2022 album “Senza,” which blends the band’s dual atmospheres — gothic and dreamy — in beautiful harmony.
With under 4,000 monthly listeners, Datura is a gothic rock band from Wentachee, Washington.
Datura draws inspiration from goth legends like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Chameleons.
This influence can be clearly seen in their work, which has a staticy retro feel and upbeat, though still moody, vibe.
Cover for “Arcano Chemical” by Datura
The band released two EPs in 2020, followed by several singles before “Arcano Chemical,” the band’s first album, came out in 2022.
While some tracks on the album have more of an “alternative” than goth slant, there’s a consistent goth influence — distorted guitars, spectral ambience and dark lyrics — throughout.
Recommended Tracks:
“Phantasma”
“Chase”
“Sapphire”
They Feed at Night
Of the three artists I’ve presented, They Feed at Night is probably the most niche.
I’ll start out by saying that this band probably isn’t for everybody. Of all the goth subgenres, I find that deathrock is typically the least palatable for people new to the scene.
Experimental deathrock, by this summation, is even stranger.
As a lover of strange music, They Feed at Night captured my very heart with their frigid, weeping and harsh sound.
Cover for “Deprivation” by They Feed at Night
Though apparently no longer active (the band’s latest release was in 2016), the band started its career all the way back in 2009 with their debut demo “They Feed at Night.”
Taking a very literal approach to the term “deathrock,” each of the band’s tracks are angsty, frenzied and dramatic. Rough, screaming vocals meld with an accompaniment of distorted guitars.
From left, Sophia Cunningham, Erie Mitchell, Claire Conklin, Rose Kelley, Nick Pinto, Jamie Lynn Gilbert and Spencer Grattan accepted awards for Best Podcast, Best Video Promo and Best DJ at the College Broadcasters, Inc. National Student Production Awards Oct. 21 in Orlando.
NC State Student Media was honored by four different college media organizations this fall.
College Media Association (CMA), the nation’s largest organization dedicated to serving collegiate media advisers, presented individual and organizational Pinnacle awards, as well as honors in its Film and Audio Festival, at the National College Media Convention Oct. 29-Nov. 2 in Atlanta.
WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 won second place Radio Station of the Year in the Organizational Pinnacle awards for Division I. All Pinnacle finalists are in the Division I category for schools with an undergraduate enrollment of 10,000 or more.
Nubian Message, a biweekly publication serving NC State’s Black community, received an honorable mention for Periodic Newspaper of the Year, newspapers that publish two to three times a month. This is Nubian’s first nomination for this award.
WKNC received three Pinnacle awards in the video/audio category. KONDE Brown, a fourth-year student studying communication and the station’s 2022-2023 production manager, shares second place for Best Audio Promo/PSA with Maddy Moore, a fourth-year student in textile technology. The promo is for Moore’s “The Doghouse” DJ shift, which currently airs Fridays at 11 a.m. on WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1.
Third place for Best Audio Talk/Entertainment Program was awarded to the “On Island.” episode of “On Black.” The program, which airs every other Saturday at 11 a.m. on WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1 and is available as a podcast, is hosted by Alexis Grant, a third-year student studying material science engineering, Jeanine Ikekhua, a fourth-year student studying communication and international studies, and Hamsata Mazou, a third-year student studying business administration. In the “On Island.” episode the hosts discuss how they would structure their own island, including who would be allowed in and what rules would be established.
Carter Norfleet, a third-year student studying English-creative writing and one of WKNC’s video content creators, received an honorable mention for Best Short (sub-3 minute) Video for Entertainment, for “A Day with Art.”
Carter Norfleet’s “A Day with Art” received an honorable mention for best short (sub-3 minute) video for entertainment in CMA’s Pinnacle Awards.
Along with the Pinnacles, CMA holds a Film and Audio Festival at its convention, designed to encourage and promote excellence in student video and audio.
Katie Quesinberry, a third-year student studying chemical engineering who worked as one of WKNC’s video content creators, earned first place in the animation category. “WKNC Presents Double Barrel Benefit 19” was filmed using stop-monition animation, a package of cut-out stars from Target and a Scrabble tile set.
The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP), the largest and oldest national membership organization for college student media in the U.S., also handed out awards at the National College Media Convention Oct. 29-Nov. 2 in Atlanta.
Jermaine Hudson, a third-year student studying social work and psychology, earned fifth place in Best Yearbook Page/Spread for “The next generation of FINER women” in ACP’s Design of the Year contest. He was also awarded an honorable mention for Best Yearbook cover. Hudson was Agromeck’s design editor in 2022-2023 and currently serves as the publication’s editor-in-chief.
ACP also holds a Best of Show contest for media outlets present at their national convention. Windhover, edited by Ryley Fallon, earned fourth place in literary arts magazine at a four-year campus. Agromeck, edited by Krishna Patel, also earned fourth place in yearbook.
Jermaine Hudson (left) and Hallie Walker show off Agromeck’s fourth place certificate in the Associated Collegiate Press’s Best of Show contest held at the National College Media Convention Oct. 29-Nov. 2 in Atlanta.
WKNC also earned three awards in the College Broadcasters, Inc.’s National Student Production Awards, presented Oct. 21 at the National Student Electronic Media Convention in Orlando.
Katie Quesinberry’s “WKNC Presents Double Barrel Benefit 19” won awards for Best Video Promo in the College Broadcasters, Inc. National Student Production Awards and Best Animation in the College Media Association Film and Audio Festival.
Rosie Rose, who graduated in August 2022 with a degree in communication media, won first place for Best DJ. Rose hosted “The Riot Hours” as Rainbow Riot. Rose was previously honored in the DJ personality category of the CMA Film and Audio Festival, earning first place in 2021 and second place in 2022.
Rose Kelley, a third-year student studying political science and the station’s content manager, earned second place for Best Podcast for the “Lincoln and Liberty Too!” episode of the U.S. political history podcast “In the West Wing.” The episode explores the chaotic presidential election of 1860 in which Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell.
Finally, WKNC earned recognition from the College Media Business and Advertising Managers (CMBAM), a group that supports business operations for Student Media. KONDE Brown earned an honorable mention in the best audio ad/underwriting with an announcement for the NC State Institute for Advanced Analytics. It was awarded at the CMBAM annual convention Oct. 14 in Minneapolis.
Media Consultant Carter Fields (left) and Business and Marketing Adviser Zanna Swann accept an honorable mention for best audio ad/underwriting at the College Media Business and Advertising Managers convention Oct. 14 in Minneapolis.
