“Everything’s been fucked since David Bowie died or they started up the Hadron Collider” say The Janitors. This feeling is epitomised in the title of their riveting new album: An Error Has Occurred. Marking over two decades of activity for the Swedish psych-rockers, the recording is informed by heartbreak and loss as well as the dismal state of the entire planet. For The Janitors, these two polarities intertwine constantly: “What’s personal is political and vice versa.” To channel their frustration and anger, the band revived certain songs they’d shelved during the pandemic when working on the acclaimed Noisolation Sessions. They added others, written since, that suited the mood of sticking a middle finger up to the oppressive world around us. Whereas previous recordings were often layered up gradually, this time the full band (Henric Herlenius, Jonas Eriksson, Anders Thorell and Wilhelm Tengdahl) rehearsed intensely together before laying down everything live, over two days and nights, in a converted missionary church. The songs on Side A have the menace of Melvins, the swagger of The Stooges and the cosmic heft of The Heads. These are the more simply constructed and poppier pieces... or so the band believe. (One friend of theirs did consider this “delusional”.) ‘In A Bliss’ acts as the album’s radiant centrepiece. A palette-cleansing love song which recalls The Jesus And Mary Chain at their most starry eyed, it finds The Janitors searching for solace and strength in straightforward companionship. After this come the dronier numbers, drawn out with soundscapes and textures influenced by The Velvet Underground’s sonic experiments and the equally immersive atmospheres of electronic acts like Massive Attack. Hence, ‘Operator’ swings threateningly like a space-rock Swans, while the approach on ‘Farewell Spacegirl’ is jazzier and more meditative. “It can be hard to muster up some, or even any, positive energy at this point in time,” says Henric. “We are eternally grateful to have the creative output that this constellation gives us. Neither me or Jonas would probably be here, or be the same people we are, if it wasn’t for The Janitors. We’ll leave you with a quote from an old anarchist: ‘Every society gets the criminals it deserves.’”

TRACK LISTING

Anger The World
Kalfjället
Lies
In A Bliss
Operator
What Is Real?
Farewell Spacegirl

In March 2020 The Janitors from Stockholm had their new album written and studio time booked in the north of Sweden - ready to unleash their latest shamanic fuzz meltdowns and follow up to the Horn Ur Marken album from 2017. Then corona hit and everything changed. The band figured they would go down into their own studio to work on those tunes some more until things passed over but instead they ended up recording other songs that turned into Noisolation Sessions Vol. 1 released in 2020 including some of the best songs The Janitors ever produced.

Cardinal Fuzz and Little Cloud Records are proud to bring to you for your listening pleasure the 5th album by your favorite Swedish purveyors of heavy drones, fuzzed nightmares and stökpsych – The Janitors – ‘Noisolation Sessions Vol.1’.

‘Noisolation Sessions Vol.1’ is a testament of three months in disturbing times. In March 2020 The Janitors had their new Album written and studio time booked -ready to unleash their latest shamanic fuzz meltdowns, then corona hit and everything changed. They figured they would go down into their own studio to work on those tunes some more until things passed over. While working there they recorded what they felt was a most apt tune for that moment back in Spring 2020 – A cover of Joy Divisions – ‘Isolation’ – It was epic and the reaction they got confirmed it. It re-energised The Janitors and in doing so the creative juices flowed and a though kicked in - that the next week they just start writing new songs, but with the same dogmatic rules, one night of recording, one week of mixing and then it's done - A challenge of just letting the creativity flow but then leaving the song as a testament to that moment.

These six songs are the product, All of it The Janitors came up with on the spot, all ideas were welcome as improvisations leads to new and far-out places, but also the occasional wrong note, lyrics reflecting the strange days we were witnessing and how they affected us, the people we love and the world. The Janitors say this is by far their least worked through art, but it turned out to be some of the best songs The Janitors have ever produced.
The next album will be recorded as soon as corona is gone, until then we'll see if there will be a volume 2 of the Noisolation series. Always and forever, fuck all right wing and capitalist oppressors. To create is to resist. To resist is to create.

Fuzz love from The Janitors