Bob Hund

Biography

Bob Hund (Swedish for "Bob Dog") is an indie rock band from Sweden. Their music has been described as "what you might expect if you managed to merge Pere Ubu and Pixies with a touch of Kraftwerk".
bob hund have performed mostly in Scandinavia as well as in Poland and England. Some of their performances include Roskilde, Hultsfred, Ruisrock and Quart music festivals.

History

bob hund was formed in 1991 by Jonas Jonasson (keyboards) and Thomas Öberg (vocals) after meeting in high school. After six formative months the band's line-up was finished, with Conny Nimmersjö and Johnny Essing on guitar, Mats Hellqvist on bass and Mats Andersson on drums. Legend has it that Essing joined rehearsals to pay off a 100 SEK debt to Hellqvist, and just kept coming back.
The band once stated in an interview that the name bob hund originates from a cartoon dog named Bob Dog in Get a Job, that they once saw while watching television. The dog in question led a very unlucky life.
The band was signed to Silence Records in 1993, and that same year released their debut EP, bob hund. The following year they released their first album, also called bob hund, and won Rock Band of the Year at the Swedish Grammy Awards, Grammisgalan. (They won another Grammis for Best Lyrics in 1996.)
In 1995, after extensive touring, the band went on hiatus as the members worked on new material, which would later make up the foundations for Omslag: Martin Kann (1996) - named after a friend of the band, who've done most of the band's graphics work over the years. The album broke the top 10, but singles I stället för musik, förvirring ("Instead of music, confusion") and Düsseldorf would both fail to break the singles top 10 - peaking at 13 and 28 respectively.
Though exclusively singing in Swedish, they started to gain attention outside of Sweden and Scandinavia. The band claimed in a press release that Graham Coxon - who has voiced his admiration of the band in interviews - asked to play with them, but that the band declined the offer.
bob hund once again toured extensively, and was awarded Live Band of the Year by Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet. In December 1998 Jag rear ut min själ! Allt skall bort!!! ("I'm Selling Off My Soul! Everything Must Go!!!") was released followed by the live album bob hund sover aldrig×Sover aldrig19 May 1999 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1Upp, upp, upp, ner3:252Nu är det väl revolution på gång?4:353Hörlurar4:464Mer än så kan ingen bli4:275Rock 'n' roll tar död på mig (igen)2:556Allt på ett kort2:107Raketmaskinen4:448Kvicksilver3:519Jag rear ut min själ3:4110Ett fall & en lösning4:1711Istället för musik: förvirring3:0912Min trampolin6:1913Det skulle vara lätt för mig att säga att jag inte hittar hem; men det gör jag, tror jag7:4814Jag är inte arg3:2015[untitled]1:21 ("bob hund Never Sleeps").
At the start of the new millennium, equipment worth 115,000 SEK was stolen from their van. During this time, the band members had slowed down the activity of bob hund to concentrate on side projects - among others Bergman Rock, a rock band consisting of all bob hund members, but where Öberg sang in English rather than Swedish. New bob hund material would not surface until single Ska du hänga med? Nä!! ("Are you tagging along? Nah!!") and album Stenåldern kan börja×Stenåldern kan börja18 March 2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks110020:552Dansa efter min pipa3:203Sista beställningen2:404Papperstrumpeten4:265F.ö. stal hon mitt hjärta3:196Och där står du2:237En som stretar emot4:098Glöm allt du lärt dig3:109Ner på jorden3:1510Skall du hänga med? Nä!!2:4911Stora tankar i lilla berg- och dalbanan3:5812Våffeljärnet2:4013Invandraren2:43 ("Let the Stone Age Begin") was released in early 2001. The album would be the band's first, and as of August 2010 only, to chart at number one.
2002 saw the release of Ingenting ("Nothing"), a compilation album containing old demos from 1992–1993, a limited vinyl pressing of 1000 copies only, single Den lilla planeten ("The Small Planet"). The two CD 10 år tillbaka och 100 år framåt ("10 Years Back and 100 Years Forward") was also released this year. The first disc being a singles compilation, and the second disc contained a live performance recorded in London 2001. During the performance Öberg can be heard explaining, in English, that he'll only speak Swedish to the crowd so they'll know they've paid for the real deal.
After the release of Det där nya som skulle vara så bra ("That New Thing That Was Supposed To Be So Good") the band went on an extended hiatus to concentrate on Bergman Rock and the dance side project Sci-Fi SKANE. The band started touring as bob hund again in late 2006, but would not release any new material until 2008s single Tinnitus i hjärtat ("Tinnitus of the Heart") and album Folkmusik för folk som inte kan bete sig som folk×Folkmusik för folk som inte kan bete sig som folk25 March 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Folkmusik för folk som inte kan bete sig som folk3:182Bli aldrig som oss, bli värre!4:183Tinnitus i hjärtat3:554Världens bästa dåliga låt4:065Blommor på brinnande fartyg4:486Grönt ljus åt alla5:597Fantastiskt5:198Lösenord: stängdklubb4:159Ett litet ljus söker sitt mörker0:4610Siffran vill bli fel5:41 ("Folk music for folk who can't behave like folk").
On 16 June 2009 Christian Gabel officially joined as the seventh member of the band, filling in on drums.
In the following year the new lineup released the four-track EP Stumfilm×Stumfilm19 May 2010 · EPSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Leker krig3:202Festen är över4:383Omringad av hjälp5:484Lögndetektorn4:28 ("Silent Movie").
On 16 March 2011 the group released the album Det överexponerade gömstället×Det överexponerade gömstället16 March 2011 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1bob hund 20202:542Tvångstankar5:433Popsång (mot min vilja)3:144Stumfilm7:315Det överexponerade gömstället5:176Lite av varje för ingen5:397Letar oväder3:008Nu finns det bevis0:469Ja, ja, ja, nej5:0910I hamnens öga4:35 ("The Overexposed Hideout"). As a form of commemoration of their 20th anniversary, a second album was released the 15th of February 2012, called Låter som miljarder×Låter som miljarder15 February 2012 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Låter som miljarder2:432Harduingetmankandansatill?3:303Vem tror jag att jag lurar?4:314Varningsklockorna3:365Darrande varulvshänder2:206Det regnar och brinner4:247Stanna klocka stanna2:578Osmium & Iridium2:579Såå nära2:5610Maskerade5:03 ("Sounds Like Billions").
On 6 July 2013 the band organized a festival in Folkets Hamn, Helsingborg. At this festival the group would auction off their old instruments and other objects that were left in their old rehearsal studio. The group themselves did not play at this festival, and were instead DJ:ing.
On 12 September 2014 the band premiered a new soundtrack for the silent film Man With a Movie Camera at Cinemateket in Stockholm, with subsequent performances in Helsinki, Luleå, Gothenburg and Malmö.
On 16 September 2016 they released their twelfth studio album, Dödliga Klassiker×Dödliga klassiker16 September 2016 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks110:202Underklassens clown2:403Brooklyn Salsa3:394Hjärtskärande rätt3:415Din piñata3:406Inte 1 mm3:37720:308Rocka Billigt6:579Blommor på brinnande fartyg4:4210Hollywood nästa4:3911After work-musik3:57 ("Mortal Classics").

Studio releases

bob hund (1), 1993 (EP)
bob hund (2), 1994 (Album)
Omslag: Martin Kann (Cover Art: Martin Kann), 1996 (Album)
Jag rear ut min själ! Allt skall bort!!! (I'm Selling Out My Soul! Everything Must Go!!!), 1998 (Album)
sover aldrig (never sleeps), 1999 (Live Album)
Stenåldern kan börja (The Stone Age May Begin), 2001 (Album)
Det där nya som skulle vara så bra (That New Thing That Was Supposed To Be So Good), 2003 (Single) - Limited to 500 copies on vinyl
Bergman Rock, 2003 (Album, as Bergman Rock)
Bonjour Baberiba Pt II, 2005 (Album, as Bergman Rock)
Folkmusik för folk som inte kan bete sig som folk (Folk Music for Folk Who Can’t Behave Like Folk), 2009 (Album)
Stumfilm (Silent Film), 2010 (EP)
Det överexponerade gömstället (The Overexposed Hideout), 2011 (Album)
Låter som miljarder (Sounds Like Billions), 2012 (Album)
#bobhundopera, 2015 (Live Album)
Dödliga klassiker (Mortal Classics), 2016 (Album)
0-100, 2019 (Album)
BOBHUNDTEATERKONSERT (BOBHUNDTHEATERCONCERT), 2021 (EP)
Drömmen är en råvara, verkligheten är en raffinerad produkt (Dreams Are a Raw Material, Reality Is a Refined Product), 2023 (Album)

Compilations

Ingenting (Nothing), 2002 - Demos from 1992/1993, limited to 1003 copies on vinyl, and made available as free digital downloads on the band's web site
10 år bakåt & 100 år framåt (10 Years Back & 100 Years Forward), 2002 - A collection of single and EP tracks, where the second disc contains a live recording from London, 2001.
Det allra näst bästa (The Very Second Best), 2022 - A collection of previously unreleased studio recordings from the 90's