Team Spirit

The history of Team Spirit goes back to 1995, when singer Hans Enger, drummer Kim Amundsen and guitarist Simen Strandås met in their east Oslo junior high school and discovered their shared love of early 80’s hardcore. They recorded a demo at their local youth center under the name Skew with bassist Håkon Olsen, but only played a couple of shows. What was most important was that a stable contingent of young hardcore activists came together. Some of the members would later show up in various bands during the next two decades.

Enger would eventually meet Espen Follestad at the (in)famous punk club Blitz in Oslo. They decided to form Rectify, a band dedicated full on to the Straight Edge with Hans, Simen and Kim from the Skew contingent along with friend Mats Engen and Follestad. Alongside hardcore veterans Onward, Rectify – as well as bands like Tiebreak, Sportswear, Insurance Risk and Kids Like Us – played an important part in the exploding Norwegian hardcore scene of the late 90s.

When I visited Norway in 1996, Peter Amdam and Arne Haabeth from Onward were talking about the upcoming 7” by Rectify and how much the band had improved in regard to their previous 7”. It gave them a boost to work harder on Onward and their new band Sportswear. The Oslo bands would compete with each other, but on a friendly level. You have to remember that the scene was quite small and everybody knew each other, and there was a lot of camaraderie back then.

But of course, all good things come to an end. When Enger started drinking and «broke edge», Rectify disbanded. Espen would continue to play in various bands like Sportswear and Damage Control. The rest of Rectify – Kim, Simen and Hans – formed the band Team Spirit with Skew bassist Håkon and childhood friend Øyvind Svendsen. The music was much more rooted in the California west coast HC sound mixed with early-to-mid DC hardcore (some might say harDCore). Think Adolescents meets Marginal Man and you’ll get the point.

A funny sidenote is that quite a few hardcore bands from Norway have sport related band names: Sportswear, Tiebreak and Team Spirit.

In 1997 Team Spirit did their first recording at Påsans Punk Palace in Oslo, a small studio where a bunch of Oslo punk bands (as  well as Tiebreak and Sportswear) also recorded. The music is still youthful but you will notice if you listen carefully that the songs are more distinct, unique and surprisingly catchy. The lyrics on the demo are a bit lightweight, however. As the title says they’re reflecting life in Oslo, having a good time and such things. You can figure it out for yourself if you like... After the demo and a handful of shows, Team Spirit was pushed back for a while. Kim spent his energy on Tiebreak and Sportswear before continuing with Team Spirit in 2000.

Team Spirit disbanded in 2004 after releasing a 7”, one LP, a split 7” with Kids Like Us, and appearing on a couple of compilations.

Peter Hoeren, March 2020

Related Bands:
Rectify, Sportswear, Tiebreak