Swedish sleaze rockers Hardcore Superstar grace our shores for the first time in ten years when they tour their forthcoming album, 'You Can't Kill My Rock 'N' Roll', around the country this June.
The new record will be Hardcore Superstar's eleventh studio album and is due for release in September.
Vocalist and frontman Joakim 'Jocke' Berg says the new album is a return to prior form after the mixed reception elicited by their previous album, 'HCSS', in 2015. “This time around we were more back to the basic Hardcore Superstar sound like 'Split Your Lip' and 'The Black Album',” Joakim says.
“More like that because the last release 50 per cent of the fans were like 'what the f$%^ are you doing now?' and 50 per cent were like 'yeah, it's good but it's not Hardcore [Superstar]'.
“But we had to get that album out of our system because we love the songs but you can't please everyone, so this time around we went back to the more traditional Hardcore Superstar sound. This time around it's going to be more like 80/20 per cent, instead of 50/50.”
Four singles have already been lifted from the new album including the anthemic and fist-pumping 'Bring The House Down'.
The song is accompanied by a video in which the HCSS boys lived-out their dream of destroying a record label with sledgehammers. “Making that video was a f$%^ing workout,” Joakim says.
“The sledgehammer I used weighed, like, tonnes; the day after I couldn't move my shoulder, but it was fun doing that. The video is about us going into a record label and destroying it; we dreamt about that, so we had to do a video for it.”
The upcoming album tour will be the first time HCSS have toured Australia in ten years after having to cancel their planned 2014 Soundwave appearances. “We were supposed to come down for Soundwave a couple years ago, but somehow the promoter f$%^ed that up, so now finally we are coming back,” Joakim says.
“It's going to be a blast, I love Australia. I told my wife that if I was to move to another country it would be Australia because the people are nice, the weather is warm, it's a nice environment and I like the feeling about Australia. This time I want to see a kangaroo and a koala bear [sic]; I want to do that this time.”
This year also finds Hardcore Superstar celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll'.
Although Joakim is positive about the future for HCSS, there was a distinct time when he thought the band would never make another record or play another live show. “Before the self-titled album back in 2005,” he says.
“I was fed-up with the band back then. I think the other guys needed a break as well, but I told them I needed a break.
"So we had a one-year break of almost not talking to each other and then we had this meeting to decide if we should do one more record or if we should put an end to Hardcore Superstar. The rest is history, we're still here.”
'You Can't Kill My Rock 'N' Roll' is released 21 September.
Hardcore Superstar Tour Dates
Thu 14 Jun - Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)Fri 15 Jun - Prince Bandroom (Melbourne)
Sat 16 Jun - Woolly Mammoth (Brisbane)
Sun 17 Jun - Fowler’s Live (Adelaide)
