Celebrating their 20th anniversary, Acid House Kings are re-releasing their entire back catalog (sans their debut, Pop, Look & Listen!). We talk to the band about their history, their reissues, and why they’re not reissuing their debut album.
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Why do you feel the time is right to now re-release your back catalog?
JOHAN: These are great albums and I want them on heavy vinyl in my record collection. Besides that Mondays Are Like Tuesdays And Tuesdays Are Like Wednesdays and Advantage Acid House Kings haven’t been available on any physical format for many many years. It was about time.
NIKLAS: Well, it usually takes us five years to record a new album and we need to fill the gaps… And seriously, they need to be heard by more people.
Why not re-release Pop, Look & Listen!? Even if just for historical sake?
JOHAN: I don’t want people to buy our albums for historical sake. I want them to buy them because they’re good and will make their lives slightly better. I’d feel I’d be ripping off people if we released it.
NIKLAS: We had the very best intentions when we recorded Pop, Look & Listen! We, as always, wanted to make that classic, timeless pop album. But we didn’t, we couldn’t at that time.
Sing along with Acid House Kings is your best reviewed album. Do you feel it is your best album?
JOHAN: Among the re-issues you mean? I have a feeling the latest, Music Sounds Better with You might be the overall favorite. I could be wrong though. Anyway, I think Music Sounds Better with You is our best album to date. There’s not a weak moment on that album.
NIKLAS: We always to strive to make a new album slightly better than the last one and so far I think we have succeeded. So for me Music Sounds Better with You is the greatest one. And it was very well reviewed as well, wasn’t it?
But yes, Sing Along with Acid House Kings is special for me. It sounds very natural and relaxed.
Re-listening to the album, is there anything new you notice?
JOHAN: Advantage definitely has its charm and some nice melodies, but I was surprised to see how much we improved from Advantage to Mondays lyrically. You can tell we were still just kids on Advantage. It feels like a debut album for good and bad. It’s a bit naive I guess. I hadn’t listened to Mondays in a while and that sounded a lot better than I’d
imagined. It’s a lovely little album and it’s actually quite interestingly produced. In a subtle way. Everything airy and super lightly played.
NIKLAS: The digital release all have several bonus tracks, which I hadn’t listened to in a long time. Some, like our O.M.D. cover “Almost” and the ice-cold “The Camera” really surprised me positively.
Do you have a favorite song on Sing along with Acid House Kings?
JOHAN: “That’s Because You Drive Me”
NIKLAS: “That’s Because You Drive Me” for me as well. It’s the kind of song you write by accident and you might never write again. I love the feeling, the atmosphere in it.
Besides the reissues, do you have any other plans to celebrate your 20th anniversary?
JOHAN: I must admit I’m rather against celebrating anniversaries. It’s more like we finally decided to re-issue those albums and it happened to be 20 years ago since released Pop, Look & Listen. But we might finish of the year with our first ever show in India and a bit of a party in Stockholm.
NIKLAS: It’s only one year since we released our best album so far. That’s something to celebrate!
Great interview!