Teddybears, courtesy.

This story originally appeared in the Oakland Tribune.

Perhaps no recent act has incorporated as many guest vocalists and different genres into its songs as the Swedish hit-making outfit the Teddybears. Instrumentalist-producer-DJ brothers Klas and Joakim Ahlund, along with Patrik Arve, are known in America mostly for their collaborations with a wide range of singers, and for their blending of electronica, pop, hip-hop, rock and reggae.

They have worked with everyone from punk rocker Iggy Pop to Jamaican dance hall artist Elephant Man. More recently, they collaborated with Cee-Lo Green, the B-52’s, Swedish pop diva Robyn and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips.

But the trio of papier-mache bear head-wearing musicians, whose second American album was released this summer, was first a hard-core punk band called Skull. Klas Ahlund says the Teddybears never have given up that part of their past.

“There is always that high level of energy even though the gear we perform our music on shifts and tempos will vary,” Ahlund said.

The band performs Friday at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco, in a bill that also features San Francisco producer/songwriter K.Flay (aka Kristine Flaherty) and longtime Bay Area DJ Aaron Axelsen, along with the Canadian pop outfit Tigercat.

Teddybears’ new album, “Devil’s Music,” was released in the United States in July and follows the formula of their 2006 success “Soft Machine,” in that a different guest singer performs on each song: Green and the B-52’s on “Cho Cha,” rapper B.o.B on “Get Mama a House” and Robyn on “Cardiac Arrest.”

But the album’s name harks back to the band’s origins as a grindcore act, mixing elements of metal, hard-core punk and industrial rock. The band, which in the early ‘90s also had a drummer, changed its name in homage to producer Phil Spector, whose band was called the Teddy Bears, and as a retort to the names of other Euro-grindcore acts such as Bloody Massacre.

Teddybears released two albums, in 1993 and 1996, heavily influenced by the likes of the Dead Kennedys, the Sex Pistols and Bad Brains. Starting with its third album in 2000, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Highschool,” the band’s focus turned to a more electronic sound. The trend continued through the following three albums and 11 years.

“It (was) a gradual development over time,” Ahlund said. “The electronic music has always been a part of our creative DNA, and even when we played punk we used to cover Kraftwerk and Devo. The music will continue to pass through the filter that is our mutual creative process regardless of genre and gear it’s performed on.”

In 2006, their first album released in America, “Soft Machine,” had radio hits in “Cobrastyle,” featuring Mad Cobra; “Yours to Keep,” with fellow Swede Neneh Cherry; and “Punkrocker,” featuring Iggy Pop, one of the band members’ idols.

Ahlund, who also has worked with Kylie Minogue, Kesha and Britney Spears, said the band’s approach to collaboration is to mix other performers’ temperament into its own music.

“We always look for unique voices that touch us in a strong way, be it the raspy bass of Mad Cobra, the sweet soulful falsetto of Cee Lo Green or the deep drawl of Iggy Pop,” he said.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.