Song Of The Week: 7/28/13

Song: "Broken World"

Artist: Millencolin

Album: "Machine 15"

Year: 2008



"Broken World" appears to be a song about wanting to get away from how the world is being run. It's kind of a sarcastic jab at the evolution of humanity. As the world we live in decays around us, we look at leaders that have their own power hungry agendas and the vocalist is just fed up with it. He wants to start his own new land, one that cares about humanity and the environment that we live in. Millencolin is a skate punk band from Sweden that formed back in 1992. In 1993, the band released a demo tape called "Goofy". After this demo, Fredrik Larzon joined the band as the new drummer, officially making Millencolin a four piece. "Melack" was a second demo recorded by the band that year. This demo caught the attention of Burning Heart Records who released the single "Use Your Nose". Burning Heart officially signed Millencolin after the release of that single and in 1994, the band released the "Skauch" EP. Also in '94, Millencolin released their very first full length album, "Tiny Tunes". After getting some heat from Warner Brothers over the album title and artwork for "Tiny Tunes", the band re-released the album under the moniker "Same Old Tunes". 1995 saw the band release "Life On A Plate". This album would be distributed by Epitaph Records in the United States. In 1997, the band released "For Monkeys" and also played on their very first Warped Tour. "The Melancholy Collection" was an album made up of old EP's, b-sides and rare tracks that was released in 1999. 2000 would turn out to be probably the most pivotal time for the band with the release of their classic album "Pennybridge Pioneers". Thanks in part to the singles "Penguins & Polarbears" and "No Cigar", this album proved to be Millencolin's first major success and also allowed them to embark on their first major worldwide tour. While on tour to support "Pennybridge Pioneers", the band wrote and recorded material for their next release, 2002's "Home From Home". In 2005, the band released "Kingwood". This album was awarded "Best Swedish Rock Release" in their native country. 2008's "Machine 15" would be the last album of originally recorded material released by the band to date. It was around this time that the band also created the "Millencolin Open". This would be an annual event that would feature skateboard contests. Skating is what brought the members of Millencolin together in the first place and this was their way of giving back. In 2012, Millencolin released a CD/DVD called "The Melancholy Connection". This was a follow up to "The Melancholy Collection" and featured b-sides and rarities that were recorded from "Pennybridge Pioneers" and on. In between touring and recording with Millencolin, some band members also play and perform with various side projects as well, most notably lead singer Nikola Sarcevic's solo career, which is mostly folksy, acoustic material. On June 8th and 9th of 2012, Millencolin hosted a festival entitled "Millencolin 20 Year". This two day event was to celebrate the band's 20th year anniversary. Currently, there really hasn't been any updates as to whether the band is working on new material or not. They still, however, tour and perform quite often.