The Bear Quartet was a cult indie rock band[1][2] from Luleå in northern Sweden.

However, the band's lineup changed significantly before eventually settling on Mattias Alkberg on vocals and guitar, Jari Haapalainen on guitar, Peter Nuottaniemi on bass, Jejo Perkovic [sv] on drums, and Calle Olsson on keyboards.

Their albums were often received favorably,[8][9][10][11][12][13] but they never resulted in large sales, usually only selling between 1,000 and 10,000 units per disc.

[16] They have also had several guests on their music such as Sibille Attar on Monty Python, Karin Dreijer on Personality Crisis, Alexandra Dahlström on Ny Våg, and Mats Levén on Eternity Now.

[21] After they were signed to A West Side Fabrication, they released their debut album, Penny Century, on 20 October 1992.

[22] Following the release of Penny Century, drummer Magnus Olsson left the band and was replaced by Urban Nordh.

During the spring of 1998, the Bear Quartet recorded Personality Crisis,[21] their seventh album, which released in August of that year.

Instead, they spent the year working on their next two albums (My War and Gay Icon) and touring in Germany.

[21] In 2000, the band released My War, alongside the EPs I Don't Wanna and Old Friends.

Gay Icon was much more experimental than The Bear Quartet's previous albums, especially the much more minimalistic My War, which had come before it.

[28] It took on an even more experimental style than its predecessor, Gay Icon, oscillating between punk rock and avant garde.

In 2003 came All Your Life, followed by Angry Brigade, which was influenced by the far-left militant group of the same name.

Following the release of 89, the Bear Quartet were nominated for a Grammis award, which they declined, saying they wanted nothing to do with it.

Alkberg had previously rejected a nomination for a Grammis, saying, "Vi avböjer den här nomineringen.

Vi tycker att en ursäkt vore på sin plats.

Please, the Bear Quartet.” Alkberg later elaborated in an interview that, "Jag visste inget om att Adrian hade anmält oss till Grammisskiten förrän vi hade bestämt oss för att vi inte ville vara med....jag VILL sälja skivor.

He has also worked as a producer for several artists such as the Concretes, Nicolai Dunger, Camera Obscura, and Laakso.

Olsson used to be in Paddington Distortion Combo, (otherwise known as Paddington D.C.), Perkovic worked with hip-hop group Infinite Mass and noise rock band Brick [sv], and Nuottaniemi worked with the band Container of Love.

"[17] In another interview, when asked about the break-up of the Bear Quartet, Alkberg elaborated on their disbanding: "Some of us could not stand some others....It had been dysfunctional since day one.