LOK

Infobox musical artist
Name = LOK


Landscape = Yes
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Göteborg, Sweden
Genre = Hardcore
Years_active = 1995–2002
Label =
Associated_acts = Lillasyster
URL =
Current_members = Martin Westerstrand
Daniel Cordero
Johan Reivén
Thomas Brandt

LOK (although not an abbreviation, the name is written with capitals, and not Lok or L.O.K.) was a Swedish hardcore band formed in 1995 and disbanded in 2002.

The band

Members

*Martin Westerstrand (Vocals)
*Johan Reivén (Drums)
*Daniel Cordero (Bass)
*Thomas Brandt (Guitar)

History

The band was created in Partille, a suburb to Göteborg in 1995, as a fusion of the two rock bands "PsychoBetaBuckDown" (with Martin as vocalist) and "Hyperbug" (with Johan as bassist). The two bands shared the same rehearsal space and had played together a few times. The bands had also finished second and first respectively in a communal rock band competition in 1994. Martin and Johan decided to play together in the 1995 competition and Johan also changed from bass to his original instrument, drums. They needed a guitarist and a bassist and found Daniel (from the band "In a Pig's Eye") and Thomas (from the Judas Priest cover band "Just as Priest").

Their first repetition was held in August 1995, with Martin singing in English for about ten minutes before fooling around and starting to sing in Swedish. It sounded strange, and they decided to continue with Swedish texts. The name of the band, which is an abbreviation for locomotive in Swedish, was chosen as a reference to their music style; "heavy, compromiseless and totally over-running"!

They won two large music competitions in the next nine months, being awarded with studio time and the production of two singles. Their first album was released in November 1996 and contained six songs. The band signs their first contract with the record label company Stockholm Records in the summer of 1997, and they record their new album during 1998. They also play at the Hultsfred Festival (Hultsfred) for the first time the same year. In 2000 they played at Roskilde Festival on green stage in front of 16.000 people.

LOK made their last appearance ever in Malmö, in the autumn of 2002. They played in Göteborg for the last time just a few days before that, and at that gig, they also recorded a live album, being their last release. After problems between the members, the band was declared dead. They said that they had showed Sweden that hardcore music could be in Swedish, and after five albums, their purpose had been reached, and thus there was no reason for the band to live on.

Two of the former members, Martin Westerstrand and Daniel Cordero along with two new members, started the band Rallypack in 2004 and recorded the album 'Sod Off, God! We Believe In Our Rockband' being their first and last English record and the only record under the name Rallypack.

Rallypack became Lillasyster in 2006, and released their debut album "Hjärndöd musik för en hjärndöd generation" (Braindead Music For A Braindead Generation) in May 2007.

Discography

Albums

* "Ord och inga visor" (1996) (Words and No Songs)
* "Naken, blästrad och skitsur" (1999) (Naked, Blasted and Pissed Off)
* "Sunk 500" (2000)
* "Ut ur discot och in i verkligheten" (2002) (Out of the Disco and into Reality)
* "Blästrad levande" (2003) - live album (Blasted Alive)

ingles

* "Lokpest" (Lok-plague)
* "LOK står när de andra faller" (LOK stands when the others fall)
* "Skrubbsår" (Grazes)
* "Ensam gud" (Lone god)
* "Stänkskärmar och sprit" (Mudguards and booze)
* "Bedragaren i Murmansk" (The deceiver in Murmansk)
* "Sug min" (Suck my/mine)
* "Staden Göteborg" (The city Gothenburg) - together with the other Swedish band Hardcore Superstar.

See also

*Music of Sweden
*List of Swedes in music

External links

* [http://www.lokfreedom.com/legends Legends Of Kesmai (The LOK Emulator)]
* [http://www.lokpest.com Lokfest (The only remaining LOK site)]
*

References

* [http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=172&a=96793 Göteborgs-Posten - Lok lägger av]
* [http://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/puls/9901/22/pulsen.html Aftonbladet - "– Jag är inte myspysig"]