Millencolin

Deriving their moniker from a particular skateboard maneuver that modifies the one called melancholy, the Swedish skatepunk outfit Millencolin surfaced in the mid-1990s, channeling sonic cues from Southern California hardcore outfits including Operation Ivy, the Descendents, and NOFX. The quartet achieved global recognition in 2000 via their fourth long-player, the gold-selling Pennybridge Pioneers, which shifted toward a stronger alternative-rock orientation. From that point forward they maintained an enduring trajectory, issuing further well-received albums such as Kingwood (2005), True Brew (2015), and SOS (2019) while sustaining the melodic skate-punk tradition.

Millencolin coalesced in Örebro, Sweden, during late 1992 when members previously active in local punk groups joined forces. Drawing from the same Southern California hardcore aesthetic, vocalist/bassist Nikola Sarcevic and guitarists Erik Ohlsson and Mathias Färm initially assembled the band as a Swedish-language project before switching to English lyrics and vocals. A ten-song demo titled Goofy was tracked in early 1993 with Färm handling drums, yet once permanent drummer Fredrik Larzon joined to finalize the lineup, Färm switched to guitar so the group could perform with two guitarists. That summer they cut another demo, Melack, and forwarded it to the regional indie Burning Heart, which promptly offered to work with them.

Before releasing their first full-length, Tiny Tunes, in August 1993, Millencolin put out the six-song EPs Use Your Nose and Skauch. Captured in a mere two weeks, the debut entered the Swedish charts at number four and prompted extensive Scandinavian touring the following year. After Life on a Plate surfaced in 1995, the band embarked on its inaugural European trek supporting California’s Pennywise and, by year’s end, signed with the American indie Epitaph. Epitaph reissued Life on a Plate domestically in March 1996; For Monkeys appeared in 1997, followed in 1998 by Same Old Tunes, a retitled reissue of Tiny Tunes whose artwork had prompted a Warner Bros. lawsuit because it echoed the Looney Tunes cartoon design, forcing Burning Heart to alter the cover. In 1999 the homemade video Millencolin & Hi-8 Adventures and the singles collection The Melancholy Collection both reached the market.

Their fourth album, Pennybridge Pioneers—Pennybridge being the direct English rendering of Örebro—emerged in early 2000. Produced by Brett Gurewitz in Hollywood, it marked the first time the group recorded outside Unisound Studios in Sweden. Subsequent festival and club dates took them across the United States, Europe, and Australia, encompassing the Punk-o-Rama and Warped tours. The No Cigar EP arrived in spring 2001, after which a summer outing supporting the Offspring preceded a return to Sweden to cut the next record. Lou Giordano produced Home from Home, issued in early 2002. October of that year marked the band’s tenth anniversary; they marked the occasion with a hometown performance in Örebro and inaugurated the annual Millencolin Open skateboard contest at Brädcentralen. Sarcevic issued his introspective solo album Lock-Sport-Krock in 2004, after which Millencolin delivered their sixth studio set, Kingwood, in April 2005; it topped the Swedish charts and reached the Top 20 abroad. Three years later came Machine 15, featuring the Örebro Swedish Chamber Orchestra, followed in 2012 by the rarities collection The Melancholy Connection. True Brew, their eighth long-player, appeared on Epitaph Records in June 2015. Sporadic international touring kept the album in circulation for the next several years until the band reconvened in 2018 to write and track their ninth album, SOS, released in early 2019.