The Bear Quartet

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Bear Quartet


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Origin = Luleå, Sweden
Genre = Indie rock
Years_active = 1989–present
Label = A West Side Fabrication, [http://www.stickyrecords.co.uk/ Sticky Records]
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.thebearquartet.com/ www.thebearquartet.com]
Current_members = Mattias Alkberg
Jari Haapalainen
Peter Nuottaniemi
Jejo Perkovic
Carl Olsson
Past_members = Johan Forsling
Magnus Olsson
Urban Nordh
Björn Olsson

The Bear Quartet is an indie rock group from Luleå in northern Sweden. They have been playing since 1989 and have been making records at a steady rate since 1992, often to critical acclaim but never resulting in large sales.

The Bear Quartet are Mattias Alkberg on vocals and guitar, Jari Haapalainen on guitar, Peter Nuottaniemi on bass guitar, Jejo Perkovic on drums and Carl Olsson on keyboards. Peter and Mattias write the lyrics, while Mattias, Jari and Carl write the music.

The Bear Quartet have spawned many side projects. Mattias sings and plays in Mattias Alkberg BD, whose debut album "Tunaskolan" released in 2004 was very well received by the critics and audience. As of 2006, they have released three albums. Their music can be described as classic punk/new wave in Swedish, with influences such as Tant Strul and Imperiet, both of which they have recorded cover songs of. Jari produces lots of other artists, such as Nicolai Dunger, Ed Harcourt, Camera Obscura, Kristofer Åström, The Concretes and Frida Hyvönen, and used to play with Maria from The Concretes in Heikki. Carl has Paddington DC, some kind of noise electro pop.

The name The Bear Quartet is taken from Klas Östergren's novel "Gentlemen". The album titles follow an interesting naming scheme: every title is two words, of which the first ends with a "y".

All albums are released on Skellefteå-based independent label A West Side Fabrication.

Members

* Mattias Alkberg – vocals, guitars
* Jari Haapalainen – guitars
* Peter Nuottaniemi – bass
* Jejo Perkovic – drums
* Carl Olsson – keyboards

Discography

Albums

* 1992 "Penny Century"
* 1993 "Cosy Den"
* 1993 "Family Affair"
* 1995 "Everybody Else"
* 1995 "Holy Holy"
* 1997 "Moby Dick"
* 1998 "Personality Crisis"
* 2000 "My War"
* 2001 "Gay Icon"
* 2002 " _sv. Ny våg" (Swedish for "New Wave")
* 2003 "Early Years" (2 CD compilation of EP tracks, demos and radio sessions)
* 2003 "Angry Brigade"
* 2005 "Saturday Night"
* 2006 "Eternity Now"

EPs

* 1994 "Revisited"
* 1995 "It Only Takes a Flashlight to Create a Monster"
* 1995 "Flux Detail"
* 1995 "Tibet"
* 1997 "Before the Trenches"
* 1997 "His Spine"
* 1998 "Human Enough"
* 1998 "Mom and Dad"
* 2000 "Old Friends"
* 2000 "I Don't Wanna"
* 2001 "Load It"
* 2001 "Fuck Your Slow Songs"
* 2002 "Number"
* 2003 "All Your Life"
* 2003 "Ask Me Don't Axe Me"
* 2005 "I Have an Itch"

Singles

* 1993 "Blizzard/Headacher"

External links

* [http://www.thebearquartet.com Official site]
* [http://www.bearquartet.com A West Side Story - The Bear Quartet Fan Pages]