When the Swedish new-wave indie band Cat Princess disbanded in 2020, founder, songwriter, and guitarist Rocky 3000 suddenly found himself a free agent in the Stockholm music market. To stay in shape during the transfer window, he started playing with friends Joakim Almén, Patrik Eklund, and Markus Ljungholm — who, back in 2019, had been doing IDLES and Broncho covers just for the fun of it.
With Rocky’s arrival, the focus quickly shifted to their mutual obsession: The Clash. But as satisfying as it is to unleash your inner Joe Strummer, it’s always more fun to create something of your own.
When Alpha Pet’s first song, Concept of Power, practically wrote itself during a rehearsal, covers were abandoned in favor of a new sound — one initially echoing the post-punk of Manchester circa 1977.
Just in time for their first studio recordings in late 2021, Patrik moved from guitar to drums, and Tom Cehlin Magnusson joined as rhythm guitarist. The resulting singles — Concept of Power, Too Fast and TV Personality — were three dystopian tracks touching on everything from deserters to the emperor’s new clothes.
Since then, the band — whose sound has been compared to everything from a guttural Swedish TV criminologist to Talking Heads and The Fall — has signed to Rama Lama Records, toured extensively, and released the bombastic rock singles Numbers Wrong, Snake Eyes, and Time and Mall of Death.
Their unpredictable, high-energy live performances have earned them unanimous praise. Now, with newly recruited guitar virtuoso Freddi Ramel and a slate of upcoming singles spanning post-punk to full-on rock, plus a forthcoming EP up their sleeve, Alpha Pet are ready to drill their way into every rock lover’s ears in 2025 and 2026.
Alpha Pet are: Rocky 3000 — vocals, guitar Joakim Almén — bass, backing vocals Patrik Eklund — drums, backing vocals Freddi Ramel — guitar, backing vocals