Alpha 60 (stylized as ALPHA 60) is an
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
band from
Uppsala
Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Located north of the c ...
,
Sweden, formed in 2008. Their name is a reference to the 1965
noir classic
Alphaville; ''Alpha 60'' being the computer controlling
Godard's dystopian city. On March 1, 2012 they released their first full-length album The Rock, the Vulture and the Chain.
History
The band formed in early 2008 after some of the band's current members started getting tired of just playing garage venues. After a few months of rehearsing, a steady buzz spreading through their home town, and after the joining of keyboard player
Martin Nordkvist, they released the
Melting Tracks EP. Having received some radio air play, the summer had them doing some Swedish festivals.
[ ]
"Armour", the first music video from the band, was released on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
on January 16, 2012. It was directed by
John R. Hallström.
On March 1, 2012 they released the band's first full-length album The Rock, the Vulture and the Chain, as well as a book of art in which artists have made interpretations of the band's songs.
Sound
The band's experimental approach has led commentators to draw attention to different musical influences. Some cite the classic guitar riff styles and fascination for oriental scales and modes developed by bands like
Deep Purple,
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
and the vocal expressiveness and majestic piano arrangements of
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
as the main influences, while others focus on the energy and attitude of the modern
britpop movement, the danceful rhythms and lust for experimentation of electronic music.
Lyrical themes
Leonidas Aretakis has himself cited a few lyrical references, amongst others some figures in the
Romantic and
Neo-romantic movements, such as
Friedrich Hölderlin
Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Part ...
,
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
,
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
,
Rainer Maria Rilke and
Georg Trakl
Georg Trakl (3 February 1887 – 3 November 1914) was an Austrian poet and the brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists. He is perhaps best known for his poem " Grodek", which he wr ...
, and the sometimes dreamlike storytelling of
H.P. Lovecraft and
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...
. The use of mythological and literary references are common traits in the lyrics, which sometimes can be construed as dark, almost melancholic. Even though the meaning can be seen as quite opaque at times, some recurring themes include homelessness, social discontent and the search for hope in a fragmented world in the demise of "real" politics.
Members
*
Leonidas Aretakis – Lead vocals, guitar, songwriting
*
Johan Törnblom – Backing vocals, bass
*
Jon Wessling – Backing vocals, lead guitar
*
Martin Nordkvist – Synthesizer, keyboard, tambourine
*
Anders Aro – Drums
Discography
*''Melting Tracks EP'' - 2008
*''The Rock, the Vulture and the Chain'' - 2012
References
Notes
External links
ALPHA 60 official blogALPHA 60 at MySpace
*{{Facebook, id=alpha60band, name=ALPHA 60
The Rock, the Vulture and the Chain at cdbaby.com
Swedish alternative rock groups