The Wannadies - As If We Care (2002)

The next few years after 1997 were a turbulent time for The Wannadies, as in Spring 1997 drummer and founding member Gunnar Karlsson left, to be replaced by long-time friend of the band Erik Dahlgren, and after sorting out problems with their Swedish record label, the band now felt they were suffering from a lack of support from BMG in the UK, and so went on strike. To compensate for the lack of new material, a compilation album of the best of their first three records entitled 'Skellefteå' was released in Scandinavia in the spring of 1998, with the band touring the region in support of it while their problems with BMG were being resolved. Relations with the label had sufficiently improved for the band to begin recording their next album in the autumn of 1998, with a ten-day session at the Chateau De La Rouge Motte studio in Normandy, France with producer Mike Hedges. Only the track 'String Song' was completed, however, and it was not until the winter of 1998/99 that the band recorded the bulk of the tracks for fifth album 'Yeah', with former Cars frontman Ric Ocasek at the helm. 'Yeah' was released in the autumn of 1999 in Scandinavia and early spring 2000 in the UK, but BMG decided not to release the record in America, and also refused permission for the band to release it on another label, eventually dropping the band altogether. Despite not having a record company, the band toured extensively throughout the summer of 2000, and in the latter half of 2000 and much of 2001 the band constructed their own recording studio in which they would record much of their sixth album, with Nille Perned again producing. In 2002 they released 'Before & After' in Scandinavia through the National record label, and on 8 September 2003 in the UK on Cooking Vinyl records. After a long hiatus, the band were thought to be writing and recording songs for their seventh album in 2009, but in April they announced they had split, with Pär Wiksten going solo. Although the band reunited and played their hits 'Friends' and 'Hit' at a festival in 2016, it would be another four years before new music was released by the band, and a song originally started at the 'Before & After' sessions and completed in 2020 was issued as a single, with 'Can't Kill The Musikk' featuring a live version 'My Home Town' as the b-side. This second collection from the band includes all the non-album tracks from the re-issue of 'You And Me Song' in 1996 to the break-up in 2003, once again housed in a contemporary sleeve. 

Track listing

01 Everybody Loves Me (b-side of 'You And Me Song' re-issue 1996)
02 We Were Sitting In A Car On Our Way From Mold To Bath As A Thunderstorm 

                                                            With Hail Stones Passed (b-side of 'Friends' 1996)
03 Just Can't Get Enough (b-side of 'Hit' 1997)
04 (Yeah Yeah Yeah) In Your Face (b-side of 'Hit' 1997)
05 As If You Care (b-side of 'Hit' 1997)
06 I Like You A Lalalala Lot (b-side of 'You And Me Song' EP 1997)
07 What's The Fuss (bonus 7" with 'Bagsy Me' album 1997)
08 Are You Exclusive? (b-side of 'Shorty' 1997)
09 Taking The Easy Way Out (b-side of 'Shorty' 1997)
10 Princess Spoon (b-side of 'Yeah' 1999)
11 After All (b-side of 'Yeah' 1999)
12 Trick Me (b-side of 'Yeah' 1999)
13 Love And Hate (b-side of 'Big Fan' 2000)
14 Fabian's Space Disco (b-side of 'Skin' 2002)

Thanks to jman for the suggestion.