LINE-UP

Teddybears / Biography

Donning gigantic, grinning Teddybear heads, Teddybears, the Swedish trio of Patrik Arve and brothers, Joakim Åhlund and Klas Åhlund, spent a great deal of the past year refining their sonic aesthetic, priming audiences for the full-caliber Teddybears sound. Their pending full-length, Devil’s Music, slated for a March 29, 2011 release on Atlantic Chairman/CEO Craig Kallman’s newly resurrected Big Beat/Atlantic imprint, will be the world’s next opportunity to experience Teddybears.

The celebrated electronic production group actually began as a grindcore act called, Skull, in 1991. Switching early in their career to the most subversive name they could conjure, Teddybears released their debut album in 1993 and continued to polish their sound throughout the decade, but when their third album Rock ‘N’ Roll Highschool was released in 2000, it marked a prophetic appearance of electronic influences within the Teddybears sound.

Teddybears have never made any effort to appear trendy; their music is simply an amalgam of the music they love by artists like Kraftwerk, The Ramones, and Public Enemy; not decidedly one genre but many. While some songs on Devil’s Music overtly appeal to one’s pop sensibilities, as on “Cardiac Arrest” featuring Robyn, the album walks a fine line that few dare. Here we see Teddybears pulling from genres as diverse as Kraut Rock on the Cee Lo-assisted “Cho Cha”, and politically charged psychedelic dance-rock with Wayne Coyne (of The Flaming Lips) on “Crystal Meth Christians.” As a whole, Devil’s Music strives to define “pop” by stretching it’s boundaries nearly to their breaking point, provoking thought, introspection and ultimately, dance.

Over the years, the fraternal members of Teddybears busied themselves within other realms of music and media, dabbling in advertising and video production while also being heavily involved in the band, Caesars, who’s hit single “Jerk It Out” was anchored by Joakim’s lead guitar, while Klas produced the album. Klas also had a major stake in producing Robyn’s self-titled 2005 effort. With their hands in so many pots, Teddybears’ sound began to rapidly take new shape, and their many influences dovetailed for a climactic moment in 2009.

Teddybears’ appearance at the Way Out West festival in Gothenburg that year, cemented their place in Swedish pop culture as they transformed a tourist boat into a floating spectacle of performance. The group navigated the canals of Gothenburg as crowds shuffled and clamored to take in the music. Since that momentous performance, their allure has increased exponentially with the incredibly far-spread international licensing of several of Teddybears’ tracks and resonating internet whispers about the mysterious Swedish gentlemen. The stage is set, and Teddybears are going to blow minds in 2011.