Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2011

The Fuji Rock Festival often books bands that otherwise would not come to Japan. Eight-man strong Swedish gypsy punk collective Rafven played a record eight times at the 2009 Fuji Rock and sold more CDs than any band in the entire history of the festival. They return on the weekend for a headlining tour to boost their new album SvenskKultur. The album title is an ironic broadside against xenophobic tendencies spreading in Sweden and other countries, with the musical contents in fact a mongrel mix of gypsy, punk, klezmer and Balkan beats.

Liquid Room, Sep 4 (listing).