There is an undeniable irony in the saga of a record by a group of avowed anti-capitalist Swedish rockers stuck in limbo for over a year due to major label corporate wranglings, but that is what happened to Armed Love, the newly released record by The (International) Noise Conspiracy. Back in 2000, armed with one of the most high-octane live shows anywhere, T(I)NC came to the attention of Rick Rubin, who offered to produce the band's next record and sign them to his American Recordings label. The product of those sessions, Armed Love, was ready for release in the summer of 2004, but it was held up after American Recordings corporate partnership with Island/Def Jam/Universal was dissolved in favor of a new agreement with Warner Brothers.

So, stuck in the middle of these boardroom machinations, T(I)NC was forced to decide between licensing the record for release on Island/Def Jam (and probably having it sink without a trace) or sticking with Rubin, even though the band was in real danger of ending up without an American record deal. But after a seemingly interminable length of time (drummer Ludvig Dahlberg admitted that he had almost given up on the record ever coming out in the US), the agreement between Rubin and Warner Brothers was sorted out, and Armed Love finally hit American shelves on October 4, some thirteen months after its European release on the Swedish label, Burning Heart. Meanwhile, T(I)NC has continued to tour the world (including a recent trip to Indonesia) and built on its stellar live reputation. Now with Armed Love finally released, the next chapter in the partnership between one of the world's largest record companies and this band of outspoken leftist radicals can play out.

As for the record itself, Armed Love is a big step forward from 2001's A New Morning, Changing Weather. According to the band, Rubin told band members from the outset that his goal was to capture the energy and power of the band's live sound on record, which necessitated a different approach than T(I)NC had used before. "We never felt really comfortable with our older records; they really just gave us an excuse to get back on the road to tour," explains Dahlberg. "But Rick's whole deal is to simplify, and he got really involved with us in pre-production and made us think about a lot of things like key changes and arrangements."

The bass, drum, and guitar parts were all recorded live in the studio, so the onstage chemistry between Dalhberg and bassist Inge Johansson is more apparent, and the pair seem to have more space to make the songs swing and wallop in the right spots. Dahlberg is really the band's foundation, and his power and skill are both quite stunning. Johansson's combination of punk energy and loping, almost classic R&B-influenced bass riffs is essential to the danceable, hip-shaking quality that sets T(I)NC apart from more rigid punk and garage bands who seem afraid to step outside the chunka-chunk 4/4 structure. Guitarist Lars Stromberg really plays primarily as a part of the rhythm section, and aside from a few understated lead parts, he locks in with Dahlberg and Johansson instead of having to multi-track his way to the rhythmic pocket. His guitar provides the meat-and-potatoes (apologies to the band's vegan members for that reference) to the songs even as it stands out less than the other instruments.

On top, Lyxzen pulls no punches in either lyrics or delivery, so anyone who is concerned that T(I)NC would temper the inflammatory political rhetoric can rest assured that the band's strident leftist political stance was not watered down by corporate interests. The artwork of Armed Love is emblazoned with the slogan "O bailan todos. O no baila nadie," which as the liner notes explain was the slogan of a Uruguayan student movement and translates as "Either everyone dances or no one dances." This idea also effectively embodies T(I)NC ethos, which is a combination of radical leftist rhetoric and old communist imagery mixed with an uplifting sense of self-empowerment. And this is an ambitious but tricky position to take, since the collectivization programs of communist China and the Soviet Union were hardly self-empowering for its citizens. So in theory, the idea is that T(I)NC can co-opt the imagery and some of the ideals of Marx's notions of equality, respect, and unity among people while maintaining the key component of voluntarism that keeps the whole ideology positive.

Now this analysis may be far deeper than many listeners will go in trying to grasp T(I)NC's political stance. And though it certainly doesn't hurt to have a Political Science background to fully grasp the band's ideas, despite being outspokenly radical, the band keeps both the musical and lyrical vibe upbeat and avoids being too pedantic. Indeed, Lyxzen has said that the band's goal is to be inspirational, especially to people who grew up in stifling small towns similar to the isolated communities in far northern Sweden where both he and Johansson were raised, and this notion can easily translate to kids in disconnected edge city suburban communities or small towns in the American heartland.

But for a band that has been labelled as the most radical in rock music, and who Lyxzen has personally called "a revolutionary army of musicians," at its musical core, T(I)NC is a pretty traditional, straightforward rock band. But Lyxzen sees this as part of a general neo-traditionalist Swedish approach: "I think Swedish bands kind of gave up on trying to be new. We just like to play old rock music and make that really good instead of trying to do something new." This foundation in classic four-on-the-floor rock makes the seemingly incongruent keyboard contributions of session stalwarts Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and Billy Preston (Rolling Stones sideman among others) on Armed Love easier to reconcile. It also leaves the door open to wider acceptance from a more mainstream audience.

The US version of Armed Love has a different tracking order than the version that was released in Europe last year, and the changes make it a very different record. The original version starts off with "A Small Demand," which is a lighter, poppier tune, before building gradually to a peak in the middle third with the back-to-back blast of "Black Mask" and "Communist Moon," and ends with the blistering stomp of the title track, which incidentally usually closes the band's live show. The American version instead opens with "Black Mask," thankfully keeps "The Way I Feel About You" and the wicked "Let's Make History" second and third and then puts "Armed Love" in the fourth slot. So instead of a slow boil, the record is essentially front-loaded with the four of the most accessible songs, which is not necessarily a bad thing, especially for people who are new to the band. Unfortunately, though, the record suffers as a whole, though the pairing of "The Dream Is Over" and "This Side of Heaven" (which showcases Dahlberg's polyrhythmic drumming skills) works well. This new order also unfortunately buries "Communist Moon," which along with "Let's Make History" is the record's key political anthem. Perhaps their major label minders thought it wise to push this unabashedly pro-socialist song back in the order.

But if The (International) Noise Conspiracy openly claims to have overthrow of the capitalist system at the top of its agenda, the band seems to be adapting well to working with the world's largest record companies. Both Lyxzen and Dahlberg said that the band's desire to reach as wide an audience as possible and be able to afford to continue touring and recording led to the decision to partner with an entity that would seem to represent exactly what the band's songs rail against. How T(I)NC's more dogmatic fans respond to the Warner Brothers' affiliation as well as Lyxzen's recent selection by the Swedish version of Elle magazine as the "Sexiest Man in Sweden" remains to be seen, but the band seems to view these things as signs that they have been able to co-opt the music industry and mass media rather than vice versa. Still, this is a tightrope that the band will continue to walk, and one can't help wonder what would happen if Armed Love become a massive seller.

Regardless of how slippery the credibility slope becomes, it is undeniable that The (International) Noise Conspiracy is one of the most musically and intellectually compelling bands to come along in a long time. All anyone has to do is go to one of the band's consistently fantastic live shows to be won over, and with Armed Love, there is now a first class recording to match that energy. With a relentless touring schedule, American fans should have plenty of opportunity to see this band, which will give Lyxzen and company plenty of potential converts.

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