BIO
“Tighter than Willy Deville´s crocodile boots.”
– Anders Tapola (Swedish paper Smålandsposten)
“Magic melodies with a dark edge. Manna from guitar heaven for friends and fans of The Dream Syndicate, The Flamin´ Groovies, The Long Ryders, The Velvets and Television.”
– Gurbin Dhillion (friend and music aficionado and writer, London)
Take the fiery twin guitars of Television and The Dream Syndicate. Add a pinch of powerpop melody sensibility, garage rock groove and New York style psychedelia. Mix with with witty and a dash dark edged, sardonic lyrics. Bring to the boil with a soulful and groovy base of drums and bass. Stir well and season to taste with the finest spices from the legacy of rock and roll – from Hank to Hendrix, from Gram to Green on Red, from Kinks to Big Star, from the Velvet Underground to The Only Ones, from Townes to Paul K, from Coltrane to Television. The list goes on… There you have the inspiration, the taste and the sound and of these guitar slingers from Stockholm, Sweden, The Plastic Pals. Bon Appetit!
The story of The Plastic Pals started in Stockholm in 2005, when singer/songwriter/guitarist Håkan “Hawk” Soold brought together his old bandmate, guitarist Anders Sahlin with Sweden´s answer to Sly & Robbie, Olov Öqvist, drums, and Bengt Alm, bass. After having played quite a few gigs in Stockholm and had released a debut CD-EP The Band That’s Fun To Be With, that had got quite some recognition and following on the old social media network MySpace, the band started to feel it was time to take their music outside of Sweden as well.
What began to kick things off was when writers of legendary/esteemed fanzine Bucketfull of Brains, who dug the sounds of the debut EP and debut album Good Karma Café (2008), invited the Pals to play at the Paisley Underground celebration at the Windmill Brixton, London, November 2008. On that night, the Pals backed Sid Griffin of The Long Ryders on a set of the legendary alt country/paisley band, and played a set with their own tunes, and finished the night with a smorgasbord of Paisley Underground and related covers.
When The Plastic Pals crossed the pond to play in New York for the first time – with Band of Outsiders – in 2013, Bucketfull of Brains contributor Gurbir Dhillon joined in and wrote a piece about that mini tour (Ding Dong Lounge, Bar Matchless and Otto´s Shrunken Head, New York, and the Brighton Bar, New Jersey) in the fanzine. The Pals returned to New York to play in 2015 at the Sidewalk Café and the Bowery Electric, as well as a video cast gig with Rew&Who? at Otto´s Shrunken Head. They have also played in Milan (with Italian band Lowlands), in Halden, Norway, and in Copenhagen – and have also returned to the UK (London, Liverpool and Southend, Essex) for gigs.
The Plastic Pals have opened for bands and artists like The Dream Syndicate, Dan Stuart (Green on Red), Chris Cacavas (Green on Red) – who also produced the band´s second album Turn The Tide that was recorded in Ludwigsburg, Germany – and ex-Green on Red guitar slinger Chuck Prophet, Australian garage rock legends The New Christs – with Rob Younger from Radio Birdman and Jim Dickson from The Barracudas , Steve Wynn, founder of The Dream Syndicate, with his band The Miracle 3, The Fleshtones and The Nomads.
The new album Keep it Burning, that is released 12 December 2025, is the band´s fourth album and it marks The Plastic Pals´s 20 years anniversary as a band. It is co-produced and mixed by Jonathan Segel (Camper Van Beethoven), who also plays violin and mandolin on a couple of songs. It also features fine Italian musicans Stiv Cantarelli (Satellite Inn) on backing vocals and Francesco Bonfiglio (Edward Abbiati & The Rattling Chains) on keyboards, Chris Cacavas on keyboards, and Håkan Hawk Soold´s childhood friend Martin Ek on trumpet.
The band: Håkan “Hawk” Soold – Vocals, Guitar Anders Sahlin – Guitar, Backing Vocals Bengt Alm – Bass, Backing Vocals , Olov Öqvist – Drums
Discography:
Keep it Burning (Vinyl and CD album) 2025
It Could Be So Easy Free and Fine (Vinyl and CD EP) 2020
Psychic Reader (CD album) 2018
Riding with Elvis (7″ vinyl single) 2015
Turn The Tide (12″ vinyl and CD album) 2013
Good Karma Café (CD album)
2008
The band that´s fun to be with (CD-EP) 2006