The Tough Alliance

Swedish electro-pop pranksters The Tough Alliance created danceable tracks that blurred the line between irony and sincerity. Formed in 2003 by Henning Fürst and Eric Berglund, the Gothenburg-based duo began dabbling in jokey dance pop at a time when compatriots like The Embassy and Jens Lekman were creating sentimental music built around samples. The Tough Alliance shared their debut EP, Make It Happen, in 2004, parodying Daft Punk’s name-dropping track “Teachers” with “Take No Heroes” and 50 Cent’s hip-hop posturing with a cover of the rapper's “‎Many Men (Wish Death)”. Their first full-length, 2005’s The New School, expanded on their sound with the inclusion of synth-pop and Balearic beat in cuts like “Koka-Kola Veins”. While The Tough Alliance started attracting attention for their live shows, which featured the pair swinging baseball bats on stage as an ironic critique of right-wing aggression, their music became more earnest with 2006’s soul-bearing “Silly Crimes” and their subsequent softhearted 2007 album A New Chance before breaking up in 2009.