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Dec 05, 2024 By Dom Gourlay Photography by Elena Perota, Nikos Plegas, Estefania Silva Web Exclusive

Initially launched in 2017 by independent promotions company Westside Music Sweden, Situated in the city of Gothenburg, VIVA SOUNDS has grown into the gargantuan beast standing before us today. This year’s event - the festival’s seventh edition - is its biggest so far, with 70 artists playing approximately 100 shows across 15 participating venues and spaces. Running parallel with the festival in the daytime is a music industry conference featuring panels, workshops and key note speakers including Fierce Panda founder and former NME writer Simon Williams. With delegates and artists representing a total of 18 different nations, Viva Sounds can also boast at being a truly international affair. A labour of love for its organisers that’s gradually becoming one of the most coveted showcase events on the European circuit.

The music programme is also as diverse and eclectic as one would expect from such an event. Pop, folk, shoegaze, punk, coldwave, grunge, surf and even death metal find themselves represented here at a festival where anything goes and more often than not, goes down a treat. The 15 spaces range from the city’s largest music venue Pustervik, which has won several national awards to the slightly more intimate confines of Hängmattan and Skeppet. Elsewhere, two of the city’s many excellent record shops Andra Långgatans Skivhandel and Bengans also host stages, as does cafe bar Holy Moly which we’re reliably informed (and can later confirm) does the best tacos in Gothenburg.

With such a busy schedule packed across its three days and so little time to see everything, Under the Radar is spoiled for choice which can only be a good thing. Nevertheless and perhaps understandably, Gothenburg finds its music scene well represented here and none of the artists we see lets the city down. On the contrary in fact. ior are a four=piece centred around the Fridlund brothers David and Daniel, and their delightful Saturday afternoon set on a tram ranks as one of the festival’s many highlights. We’re reminded of the halcyon days of Indietracks where bands would play on a steam train in the Derbyshire countryside, and while this may be the urban landscape of Gothenburg city centre, the music on offer is of a similar vibe (think The Go-Betweens, early R.E.M. and Sarah Records). Meanwhile, energetic post-punk five-piece Agitator are a cataclysmic bundle of hyperactivity that channel the ghosts of Joy Division past and The Horrors present into their theatrical and tune=packed set. They’re actually the last band Under the Radar sees at the festival in the early hours of Sunday morning and one that leaves a lasting impression as we make our way home via 2 planes and a train hours later. Fellow Gothenburg artist Nora Lucia, the vehicle for folk-orientated singer/songwriter Nora Lundgren plays wistful folk with an indiepop twist that’s both subtle and soothing as we watch wistfully between the racks in Andra Långgatans Skivhandel,

Over in The Abyss - Gothenburg’s shrine to all things metal, Stockholm’s Ultra Lover and local heroes Fox Womb play memorable sets from very opposite ends of the genre’s broad spectrum. While the former prefers a more glam orientated approach to what some people might call trad rock, the latter plays ferocious death metal that takes no prisoners where the singer spends as much time in the audience as he does on stage. Both executed to perfection, and both drawing large, appreciative crowds into the bargain. On arrival in Gothenburg, a lucky few of us are treated to a private show by Gothenburg psych rockers Hollow Ship in their rehearsal space debuting new and unreleased songs off their forthcoming LP. Signed to Stockholm label PNKSLM, one of the most respected independent labels in Sweden. They’re one of a number of PNKSLM associated artists playing at Viva Sounds. Another being flypaper, essentially the solo project of London-based musician and songwriter Rory Sear, but playing as a four-piece here which adds a Teenage Fanclub in their Americana phase kind of sheen to proceedings.

Another band from Stockholm to catch our eyes and ears are Sodakill, a four-piece whose attitude-laden grunge metal pop punk melange proves reminiscent of The Runaways, L7, The Lunachicks and The Ramones in equal measures. Unsurprisingly, they go down a storm and are encouraged back to do an impromptu, unplanned encore resulting in band and audience clambering for space in the moshpit out front. Under the Radar are so impressed, we purchase their excellent self-titled long player afterwards and you should too if no holds barred rock and roll is your thing.

With the fcus on international artists omnipresent thoughout, South African born Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys prove to be something of a revelation, Now based in Berlin, their amalgam of music and theatre reminds us of torch singers Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf as it does the likes of PJ Harvey, Nick Cave and The Velvet Underground. While in focal point Lucy Kruger they possess someone that was born to perform and entertain without blinking an eyelid. Songs like “Anchor” and “Play” tear the roof off Skeppet’s admittedly high ceiling, the latter even incorporating Iggy & The Stooges’ classic “I Wanna Be Your Dog” into its refrain.

Latvian trio Bēdu Brāļi are also an interesting conundrum. Playing their first ever show outside of the band’s native Riga, Bēdu Brāļi play music that sounds improvised in nature yet also very taut in execution. Last year’s excellent debut album Duende is already yesterday’s news as far the band are concerned. Instead, tonight’s set consists almost entirely of new material that’s twisted, psychedelic yet ultimately soothing in dispatches. Anyone at Focus Wales two years ago will already be aware of New York post-punk quartet Mary Shelley having somehow managed to squeeze a total of 6 shows in 3 days that summer. They also manage to fit in 3 here, the first of which yakes place in the salubrious confines of Oceanen and is rapturously received by those in thrall to their METZ-meets-Devo-on the beach schtick.

Welsh singer/songwriter Adjua enraptures the teatime crowd at Holy Moly which is so packed to the rafters people can barely get through the door. Joni Mitchell and Laura Marling are obvious reference points, but there’s something more mythical going on in Adjua’s simple yet effective compositions. Copenhagen based artist Ki! is also something of an anomaly in that his music is nigh on impossible to pigeonhole, which can only be a good thing. Signed to Danish independent Crunchy Frog, whose roster includes Junior Senior and The Raveonettes among others, Ki!‘s repertoire ranges from Carlos Santan style interludes to lilting pop not entirely dissimilar to mid-seventies era Fleetwood Mac with a surprisingly good rearranged version of “All That She Wants” by Ace Of Base thrown in for good measure.

Hailing from Bergen in Norway and centred around the core duo of Richard Myklebust and Linn Frøkedal, whose previous band The Megaphonic Thrift made a big noise worldwide a decade or so ago. Misty Coast simply ooze class. While comparisons to the likes of Beach House, Blonde Redhead and the Cocteau Twins are inevitable - for the right reasons I hasten to add. There’s something inimitably special about their Saturday night in the intimate space that’s Pustervik’s upstairs room. Playing a set mostly comprised of material from 2021’s When I Fall From The Sky and last year’s Nevereverending, Misty Coast play one of the sets of the weekend with effortless aplomb. “Galaxy” and closing number “In A Million Years” proving particularly excitable for those present.

As one of the most hotly-tipped acts of the festival, Gothenburg outfit The Family Men also pull one of the largest crowds to the main room at Musikens Hus. Musically reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails, Soulwax and Death From Above 1979 with a sprinkling of The Prodigy for good measure, they’re an enticing proposition and one that will almost certainly become a feature at similar events far and wide over the coming months.

As with previous years, the 2024 edition of Viva Sounds delivered in every conceivable way. Here’s to 2025!

The 2025 edition of Viva Sounds is scheduled to take place from 27-29 November