Helen Scarsdale Agency / US / 2025
Neutral is the no wave / anti-rock duo of dan johansson (sewer election, ättestupa, amateur hour, etc.) and sofie herner (leda, enhet för fri musik), both with deep connections to the swedish noise scene. as neutral, the two smear voice, guitar, organ, and smoldering noise into narcoleptic songs that rewire the strategies of dome by way of gate and mars. lågliv translates to ‘lowlife,’ an apt metaphor for neutral’s subterranean murk and shambolic discontent that they languidly manifest as a punk dourness emptied of all rock ’n’ roll theatrics. desperate, demolished, and dejected.
Lågliv was originally published as part of the instantly out of print on corrosion - a 10 cassette anthology from 2019 that was housed in a handcrafted wooden box and featuring full albums from kleistwahr, neutral, pinkcourtesyphone, alice kemp, she spread sorrow, g*park, relay for death, francisco meirino, fossil aerosol mining project, and himukalt. the collection also stood as the 50th release for the helen scarsdale agency.