Teddybears (band)

Initially starting as a hardcore punk band, Teddybears began to incorporate a variety of sounds from hip hop, pop, rock, dancehall, and electronica after a few years.[1] Joakim Åhlund was a member of the grindcore band Skull, alongside Glenn Sundell, Patrik Lindqvist, and Jens Näsström.In an interview with Göteborgs-Tidningen, Joakim Åhlund explained the reason behind the name change: "We wanted to avoid clichés; stuff like Kill Death Fuck Squad Bunch Murder and ... well, that kind of thing.Upon their emergence on the Swedish rock scene in 1991, Teddybears were noted for their unique genre, appearances, hard music, and energetic stage performances."[10] In contrast, guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen offered a less favorable review in Metal Zone magazine, disparagingly commenting, "sucks ass!I Can't Believe It's Teddybears Sthlm includes a cover of Kraftwerk's "The Robots," which they began performing while touring in Germany.[14] With the album, the band left hardcore punk behind in favour of a distinctive version of electronic pop with elements of hip-hop and reggae.The song "Punkrocker" was also recorded that same year by Joakim Åhlund's other band, Caesars Palace, as well as by Thomas Rusiak featuring Teddybears, under the title "Hiphopper."It was when Patrik Arve shared a studio with the artist and puppet maker Arne Högsander, the creator of the papier-mâché bear mask for Bergman, that Teddybears ordered several of the same kind."[16] Soft Machine contains six tracks from Fresh, five remixed hits from Rock'n'Roll Highschool, and one entirely new song, "Riot Going On," where Ebbot Lundberg sings.The performance was a success for Torgny Melins, and the dance band released a whole album of Teddybears interpretations that same year, called "Dansbander.This album also features several guest artists, including world stars Cee Lo Green, The Flaming Lips, The B-52's, and Eve, along with Swedish names such as Mapei, Rigo, ADL, and Desmond Foster.[1] In Dagens Industri, Jan Gradvall wrote the following about the album: “Artists who in this way combine ‘state of the art’ production and classic pop songwriting with adrenaline, anarchism, attack - and also have a visual thinking - are extremely rare.[23] Johanna Paulsson, a critic for Dagens Nyheter, wrote about the performance: "Just making something so retrospective sound innovative is an achievement in itself, and Teddybears at the theater are far from being party animals."[24] The year before, Klas Åhlund had written the music for Staffan Valdemar Holm's original production of Schiller's Don Carlos.In 2014, Teddybears made a similar statement when they printed band merchandise with the text "SD = racists" which they used during a performance on the TV4 program "Sommarkrysset.