Coca Carola is a Swedish punk band formed in

Åkersberga Åkersberga is a locality and the seat of Österåker Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 28,033 inhabitants in 2010. History In 1901 a railway station named ''Berga'' was opened on this rural spot some 30 km from Stockholm. Some ...

in 1986. Signed to the Swedish record label

Beat Butchers Beat Butchers is a Sweden, Swedish record label mostly dealing in punk rock, punk, especially trallpunk. They started in 1991, but had earlier published music under the name ''Studio otukt records''. Signed bands *23 Till *Alarmrock *Asta Kask * ...

, they were active and recognized in the Swedish punk scene during the years 1986–2004. In 2023, after a long hiatus, the band has begun to tour again.

History

At the beginning, the band consisted of musicians who had been fired from their previous bands: Curt "Curre" Sandgren (former member of the band '' Rolands Gosskör''), Mårten Tolander, "Ostron" Åkerholm, and Björn Gullberg. in 1987, Coca Carola released a self-titled single, and after this Gullberg left the band. For a short time, Putte Strand joined the band as a guitarist. He was replaced by Conny Melkersson, who had played with Sandgren in the band ''Rolands Gosskör''. In 1988, Coca Carola, together with the band

23 Till 23Till was a Swedish punk rock band consisting of Janne Abrahamsson (vocals, guitar), Micke Pihlblad (bass, vocals) and Pär Andersson (drums). Formed in Norrköping in the middle of Sweden around 1985, they became one of the acts on the Swedish ...

, recorded their first LP titled '' Anabola melodier''. Coca Carola was responsible for the first half of the album. In the summer of 1991, Coca Carola released the single ''C/C 7 Inch''; the three songs on this single used English-language lyrics. Busy with his other band

Nein Nein (, ''Nayin'', lit. ''Charming'', ) — also Nain or Naim in English — is an Arab village in northern Israel. Located in the Lower Galilee, south of Nazareth, Nein covers a land area of approximately and falls under the jurisdiction of ...

, Melkersson left the band. Coca Carola found a new guitarist, Jonas Winberg. In the fall of 1992, the band's debut album titled '' Tigger & ber'' was released, and the band toured Germany. They played at the

Hultsfred Festival The Hultsfred Festival () was an annual music festival held in Hultsfred, Sweden. It took place at the lake Hulingen for three days in June or July, from Thursday to Saturday. Since the first festival in 1986, its attendance increased from 7,5 ...

and toured with

De lyckliga kompisarna De Lyckliga Kompisarna ( Swedish for ’The Happy Friends’), DLK, is a Swedish melodious punk band. The band was formed in 1989, split up in 1997, and re-united in 2008. They are probably best known for their song "Ishockeyfrisyr", which is a ...

. In January 1994, Coca Carola released their second album, '' Läckert''. Later that year, bassist Åkerholm left the band because it was taking too much of his time. Since the band had planned to release a single in the fall of 1994, Åke Noring (also from Rolands Gosskör) temporarily played bass in Coca Carola. Jonas Mellberg, who was a member of the band ''Håkan sover naken'' joined Coca Carola, and remained their bass player until 2004. In September 1994, Coca Carola released the EP ''Klubben för inbördes beundran'', whose first track, "Inbördes beundran", reached 37th place on the Swedish singles charts. In early 1996, Coca Carola released their third album, ''Dagar kommer''. For the band's 10th anniversary later that year, the collection ''...fem år till moped'' was released. This album contained several new songs, as well as older rare tracks. In 1997, the band took a hiatus, but returned in 1998 with a new album ''Så fel som bara vi kan ha''. In December 1998, Coca Carola received a request to write songs for a compilation album for the soccer team

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

. The band accepted, and wrote nine new songs, including ''Min tröja''. In 2000, their fifth studio album was recorded and released, ''Feber''. In 2004, Coca Carola released their most recent album ''Kryp din Jävel'' and played their final gig at ''Fregatten'' in

. Soon after that, Curre Sandgren and Jonas Mellberg started a new band, called ''Den sista leken'', which released an album the same year. In 2012, Coca Carola reunited for a gig at the festival Peace & Love in Borlänge and for an unpublicized concert at

Kafé 44 Kafé 44 is a café, concert venue, and anarchist bookstore in Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the ...

in Stockholm. The following year, they played with

Charta 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech and Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Jiří Něme ...

and Johan Johansson, among others, at an event in Stockholm; this performance was dedicated to the Peace & Love festival, which had gone bankrupt. In 2023, Coca Carola started to play again regularly. Their reunion concert took place at ''The Public'' in their hometown of

in January 2023. In February 2023, the band participated in "Ögir will arise" at Frimis in

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

, a benefit to support the rebuilding of Per Granberg's music bar Ögir, which burned down in 2022. Coca Carola's next gig in August 2023 was even larger: at

Gröna Lund Gröna Lund (, ), or colloquially ''Grönan'' (), is an amusement park in Stockholm, Sweden. Located on the seaward side of Djurgården Island, it is relatively small compared to other amusement parks, mainly because of its central location, which ...

. This performance included Jonas Mellberg was a guest artist. In 2024, Coca Carola have committed to a benefit concert for guitarist Micke Blomquist, organized by

Asta Kask Asta Kask is a Swedish punk band from Töreboda, Sweden, founded in 1978. Asta Kask plays melodic punk music with Swedish lyrics; they are a foundational band for the musical subgenre known as trallpunk. The band have gained international reput ...

Band members

Current line-up: *Curt Erik Torvald "Curre" Sandgren – guitar & vocals *Jonas Winberg – guitar & backing vocals *Åke Norling – bass & backing vocals *Mårten Tolander – drums Previous/temporary members: *Jonas Mellberg – bass & backing vocals *Ostron Åkerholm – bass *Björn Gullberg – guitar, vocals *Conny Melkersson – guitar *Putte Strand – guitar

Discography

Studio albums

# 1988: '' Anabola melodier'' (Studio Otukt) # 1992: '' Tigger & ber'' (

) # 1994: '' Läckert'' (

) # 1996: '' Dagar kommer'' (

) # 1998: '' Så fel som bara vi kan ha'' (

) # 2000: '' Feber'' (

) # 2004: '' Kryp Din Jävel'' (

)

Live albums

*2000: ''Live i Kalmar, Järnkaminerna'' *2001: ''Kom och slå mig igen'' *2002: ''Live i Sundsvall'' *2004: ''En sista gång på 44:an''

Compilations

*1996: '' ...fem år till moped'' *2012: ''Samlade''

EPs

*1994: '' Dimmornas land'' *1994: '' Klubben för inbördes beundran''

Singles

*1987: '' Kom till kriget'' (self-titled 7inch) *1991: '' C/C 7"'' *2015: ''Tack för festen''

Samplers (selected)

*1995: '' Äggröran 1'' (Ägg Tapes & Records) *1998: Definitivt 50 Spänn 7 *1998: Definitivt The Greatest Hits *2001: Definitivt 50 Spänn 10 *2007: Svenska Punkklassiker Vol. 2

References

External links

Coca Carola on Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carola, Coca Swedish punk rock groups Musical groups established in 1986 Musical groups from Stockholm County Åkersberga