I’m not exactly sure where I first heard Paatos. They reminded me of someone, but I’m still not sure who! Whatever, wherever, whenever, whoever… I now think of them as a chilled-out version of the Sugarcubes, or a more intelligible version of Sigur Ros. How’s that for stereotyping Scandinavian music? The two bands I use as reference points to describe a Swedish band are both Icelandic…

I had the pleasure of seeing Paatos live a few months ago when they were opening for Porcupine Tree in Glasgow. They were great to watch, and tighter than a coiled spring. The highlight of their performance was at the end of the song I’ve linked to here, it finishes with something that is not quite a drum solo but is getting close – Paatos’ drummer Huxflux Nettermalm (I’m really not making this up) is incredibly talented and was giving it big licks, and barely pausing he picked up a suitcase full of drumsticks from the floor and emptied it over his kit. I’ve no idea if he does that every night or if he’d dropped his stick, went for a replacement and spilled them by accident… I suspect, however, that he is as mad as a box of frogs.

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Contribute to Paatos’ drumstick fund here or get it at Amazon.