Why Everyone’s Talking About Hardcore Superstar After Peacemaker Season 2

The recently concluded second season of Peacemaker brought plenty of excitement, which was to be expected when it comes to the 11 street kids. On the other hand, the thrill for fans of good sleaze rock was no less intense. We heard a lot of great music, from established names like Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Helloween, and Guns N’ Roses, to new wave sleaze rock bands such as The Cruel Intentions, H.E.A.T, Steel Panther and Sister Sin. However, it seems that this season one band was particularly favored by director James Gunn and accepted by the sheer audience – Hardcore Superstar.

These Swedish sleaze rockers from Gothenburg had as many as three songs featured in the series, one of which even made it onto the official soundtrack release. Not to mention the band’s alternate-universe version called Hardcore Megastars, or the moment when Adebayo explains to Judomaster why Chris (Peacemaker) listens to the kind of music he does, all the way to the final episode, where Chris sings a Hardcore Superstar hit from the early days of their career to Emilia Harcourt.

Someone Special

And that’s exactly where today’s story begins. The song Someone Special, which we heard in the final episode – the one Chris claims “revolutionized new sleaze rock” back in 1999, was indeed one of the band’s first hits and was released as a single that same year. However, it actually dates back to 1998. That year, the band released their debut album It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll, which included the mentioned song. The album was released in a small run of about 1,000 copies and sold out quickly.

Hardcore Superstar then received an invitation to open for Motörhead on their Scandinavian tour, and things began to move quickly. The demand for the band kept growing, and soon the record label Music For Nations wanted them to reissue the album for the global market. However, Jocke Berg, Thomas Silver, and Martin Sandvik thought differently. Especially since drummer Magnus “Adde” Andreasson, a childhood friend, had joined the band, they insisted on re-recording the songs with him and adding a few new ones that came along the way.

And so, in 2000, Bad Sneakers and a Pina Colada was released, officially the band’s first album on a global level, featuring Someone Special, a song that speaks about growth, redemption, and the transformation of a relationship, along other hits like Have You Been Around, Liberation and Hello/Goodbye.

Did you know?

• During the 2000s, Hardcore Superstar released six more albums after Bad Sneakers, namely: Thank You (For Letting Us Be Ourselves) (2001), No Regrets (2003), Hardcore Superstar (2005), Dreamin’ in a Casket (2007), Beg for It (2009), and Split Your Lip (2010).

• Among devoted fans of this music, the style Chris calls new sleaze rock, also known as “new wave of sleaze metal” or “2000s sleaze” – there’s a common belief that the self-titled 2005 album is actually the band’s true first record. This was confirmed by vocalist Jocke Berg himself in an interview, saying that the record label wanted to turn them into a band similar to The Hives, (which you can clearly see in the video for Someone Special), while they wanted to be a genuine but modern sleaze band, following in the footsteps of Faster Pussycat, Mötley Crüe, and L.A. Guns.

• After the album Dreamin’ in a Casket, guitarist Thomas Silver left the band and was replaced by Bosnian-born Swedish guitarist Vic Zino, who had previously played in another major act on Sweden’s sleaze-glam scene – Crazy Lixx. Following their appearance at Crüe Fest in 2009, Nikki Sixx showed interest in the band, and their song Spit It Out from the Beg for It album was played numerous times on his radio show Sixx Sense.

Well who the f*ck are you?

The next Hardcore Superstar song featured in Peacemaker, chronologically speaking, appeared in the very first episode of the series, so here we’re taking a little step back in time. The song Guestlists, whose opening only Finns (and perhaps a few others who strangely speak this very difficult language) will understand, comes from the 2010 album Split Your Lip. We hear it in the scene where Chris, after an argument with Harcourt, grabs his “rainy day stuff,” which then leads him to the orgy happening at his house. Lyrically, the song isn’t far from that: it’s the band’s message to those who show up (mostly uninvited) backstage during band parties. This is the song that made it onto the official Peacemaker Season 2 Soundtrack.

Did you know?

• The album Split Your Lip was recorded in 2010 over just five to seven days, practically live in the studio, with very few overdubs. The band wanted to make their rawest album yet, a total contrast to the more polished and heavily produced records of the past. This is also the first album where the new guitarist, Vic Zino, is credited as a songwriter.

• The album was embraced by fans as one of the band’s best, and if by any chance you’re discovering HCSS for the first time thanks to Peacemaker, make sure to check out Last Call for Alcohol (which became a live hit when a huge number of fans would storm the stage to drink Jägermeister with the band), the furious Moonshine, or the killer stripped-down tracks Here Comes That Sick Bitch and Run to Your Mama. You won’t regret it.

Lalalalala

Finally, in episode two, we got one more song from the Swedish sleaze rockers, this time during the end credits. It’s the track We Don’t Need a Cure from 2011. That year, the band took a short break and, instead of releasing a full-length album, put out a compilation. Luckily, the compilation wasn’t just a collection of previously known songs – Jocke Berg, Vic Zino, Martin Sandvik, and Adde Andreasson pulled this ominous rocker out of their sleeve, dedicating it to all the outcast freaks of the world.

Did you know?

• The compilation that features this song is titled The Party Ain’t Over Till We Say So — which is actually a line from the song Last Call for Alcohol off the Split Your Lip album.

• After that, the band released four more albums: C’mon Take On Me (2013), HCSS (2015), You Can’t Kill My Rock ’n’ Roll (2018), and Abrakadabra (2022).

• And yes — if you were wondering — the band is currently working on a new album, something frontman Jocke Berg confirmed last year.

All in all, the question remains: did James Gunn and his series Peacemaker manage to spark new interest in such a quality and fan-beloved band among a broader audience, the way music from films and series has done in the past? Whatever you think the answer might be, go to the YouTube videos of these songs and read the comments, they’ll speak for themselves. Hardcore Superstar are definitely one of the James Gunn’s dirty secret weapons of this season.

And if you’re a new fan and don’t know where to start with Hardcore Superstar, don’t worry – check out our Fan Poll of the band’s best songs and start from the top! Or if you just want to check where these Peacemaker songs ranked…

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