Loud, Raw and Totally Funeral

The old image of the one-man band parading around town making just as much noise as he could isn’t just from the lovable Mary Poppins. It is still a real thing, and while many consist of a harmonica, accordion, ukulele, bass drum, tambourine, guitar or whatever it might be of musical inclination to the person, this is not always the case. Such a description could fit the Swedish act Electric Funeral. Jocke D-takt, also of Paranoid, Desperat, Warvictims, Totalt Jävla Mörker and many others is the sole perpetrator of this lonely assembled noise machine.

We diverge from the traditional meaning of the term “noise” when applied to this album; though loud and raw, Electric Funeral is highly regarded as a high influencer in the punk subgenre known as d-beat. For fans of crust, hardcore (Swedish) and “raw” punk, Electric Funeral is right up your alley. Total Funeral is the entire anthology of Electric Funeral, and for those who are fans, this is an exciting surprise. The release includes “Harvester Of Death,” “Make Noise Not War,” “D-Beat Noise Attack” and several previously unreleased tracks. Southern Lords Records broke the news in June this release would be a double EP package with fifty-three (yes, fifty-three) tracks, all ranging from fifty seconds to two and a half minutes, with the strange exception of track fifty-one which reaches an astonishing 4:48, which is quite long for a punk song of any subgenre.

As far as this new thing (to many) called d-beat, all you need to know is that it’s loud, fast, distorted and angry. This is not a popular sound nor is it meant to be. While there are many ways people connect with music, this is a sound you either get or you don’t. While this album cannot achieve High Fidelity, it does hold its weight in the audience it reaches and earns respect in its own way.