When Kai Martin & Stick! reunited to perform the album “Röd Plåt”, they proved the band’s enduring greatness, a quality that has only grown since their split in 1985.
Kai Martin and Peter Bryx formed the punk band Stick! in 1977. However, it was under the name Kai Martin & Stick! that they made their recording debut in 1979, going on to make a name for themselves in the Swedish post-punk scene.
They were one of the first bands in Sweden to move away from the simple energy of punk towards a more sophisticated, artistic style. Appearing on the über-aesthetic TV programme Chrome 22, Kai Martin wore an elegant suit and tie — a provocative choice in über-simple 1980s Sweden. However, Kai Martin & Stick! also had a political edge. Amidst a rather hazy and introverted mass of lyrics, the 1982 album “Röd plåt” contained an unexpectedly clear political message:
Move, move, move now!
Now is the time to live!
Demonstrate, demonstrate!
This combination was difficult to digest at the time and was opposed by both the prog scene and the rather lacklustre Swedish punk scene.
As a teenager, I thought the group was a little too aloof when Kai Martin & Stick! released their groundbreaking album “Röd plåt”. There was too much posturing for my passionate teenage heart, and looking back, perhaps you would agree that I didn’t understand them. But I also remember how the group’s records circulated among my friends, how we discussed them, and not least, a wild gig at Kolingsborg in Stockholm.
Kai Martin & Stick! broke up in 1985, having released four LPs and five singles during their time together. Now, almost 30 years later, the group has reunited to breathe new life into “Röd plåt”. For the first time ever, they will perform all of the album’s songs live. Four of the six members are from the 1980s line-up.
I found out by chance yesterday, Saturday 6 April 2013, that Kai Martin & Stick! were going to perform “Röd plåt” at Scandic Grand Central, a hotel in central Stockholm.
I suspect it was intended as a rehearsal for today’s gig at Pustervik in Gothenburg, which was much more widely advertised. Reunions always risk becoming mired in nostalgia and the idea that ‘it was so much fun back in the day when we were young’, so I approached the hotel on Vasagatan with a certain scepticism.
At the same time, I have gained so much distance over time that the teenage angst I felt at the time has disappeared, and I now see completely different qualities in the band’s albums.
I can only conclude that, in 2013, Kai Martin & Stick! actually feel current and relevant. I was particularly impressed by Kai Martin’s singing. A singing voice has to be kept in shape, and Kai Martin sings with the same energy, authority and precision as ever.
It was a dignified comeback – above all, it was a good album performed by a good band.
Photo
Magnus Nilsson