Festival report: Way Out West

Last Days of April will support Tegan and Sara in Northern Europe for a few dates:

08/21 - Knust, Hamburg (GER) (solo)
08/23 - Vega, Copenhagen (DK) (full band)
08/24 - Columbia Club, Berlin (GER) (solo)
08/25 - Stadtgarten, Cologne (GER) (solo)

Fest update! Friday was great - Low exceeded expectations and Woven Hand was amazing. I couldn't get into Trail of Dead, but I did manage to catch Last Days of April to wrap up the evening and they were pretty damn good too. Saturday started nicely with a thunderous set from Boredoms followed by my first-ever in-person Hello Saferide show. Some folks tell me it wasn't their best, but I was more than happy. The Hellacopters and The Hives both brought the rawk like you would expect and after that I decided to bail early to Sticky Fingers so I could stake out a position for Laakso. It was obviously the right move 'cuz that place filled up mighty quick right after we got there. Seeing Juvelen open was bonus. As for Laakso, it was brilliant. Practically a greatest-hits set you could say. Oh, and Annika Norlin performed the "Italy v Helsinki" duet. Good times! Pictures to come as well.

MP3: Fare You Well - Take me away

Forgive me, but I must take exception to Jonas Appelqvist's review of Fare You Well. His description of the music is spot-on, but his conclusion? Totally false. It's far from groundbreaking, but I can honestly say that I haven't heard as solid an emopop record as this in many, many years. That might be because I'm woefully and willfully ignorant, but I stand by my statement! It's certainly on par with Last Days of April and, at moments, comes awfully close to matching the highs of Jimmy Eat World. Sure, you can barely recognize the theoretical hardcore/punk heritage this stuff is supposed to possess, though I'd argue that hardly matters anymore. Promise Ring and the Get-Up Kids were only subversive in the context of a tough-guy scene, nowadays this stuff might as well be Bon Jovi. Underground? Who cares. If this is the new arena rock, that's totally okay by me.

Fare You Well - Take me away

The playlist for my radio show this week:

01. At the Gates - Suicide nation
02. TALK 1
03. Moving Oos - Stronger
04. Eskju Divine - Hold on
05. Mechanical Bird - Sunday
06. TALK 2
07. Mixtapes & Cellmates - Quiet
08. DS13 - Thrash lifestyle
09. Montt Mardié - Metropolis
10. Junior Senior - Can I get get get
11. TALK 3
12. Niccokick - Love & neon lights
13. Kristofer Åström - I collect knives
14. Death Breath - His protoplasmic worship
15. TALK 4
16. Mob - Ghost track
17. MZ412 - Unhealing wounds
18. Ugress - Manhattan sapphire
19. TALK 5
20. Shining - Låt oss ta allt från darandra
21. No Hope for the Kids - Rainy day
22. Moneybrother - Det blir ingen dans
23. Amandine - For all the marbles
24. TALK 6
25. Familjen - Det snurrar i min skalle
26. Last Days of April - Aspirins and alcohol
27. M:40 - När bomberna faller
28. TALK 7
29. Espen Jørgensen - The immaculate conception
30. Motorpsycho - For free
31. The Carny - Man under the sun
32. TALK 8
33. Karin Ström - Klaustrofobi
34. Badun - Pulsen
35. Meshuggah - Future breed machine
36. Värttinä - Mero
37. TALK 9
38. Randy - Better than art
39. Closer - Open casket
40. Alog - Buffalo demon
41. TALK 10
42. On Trial - Speaking of witch

Last Days of April play their first-ever North American shows this week at NXNE:

06/07 - The Bovine, Toronto
06/07 - El Mocambo, Toronto w/Brant Bjork
06/09 - Jeff Healey's Roadhouse, Toronto w/The Soundtrack Of Our Lives

Last Days of April
Might as well live
Bad Taste Records

Peeling off the layers of music has always been an interesting way to evolve for a band. And it certainly feels as if Karl Larsson finally found his home musically. This, the 5th album, is simply packed with rawk that has an astounding appeal. The man knows how to write catchy songs, but this collection are his masterpiece. And speaking of catchy, "Who's on the phone?" can possibly be the catchiest song to be released this year. Other favourites are the somewhat epic "Melbourne" and the sensitive and driven "Two ply glass". LDOA is a one-man project nowadays, but never is it a dull project. On the contrary, it is very much alive and kicking, something that the album title refers to. With Fredrik Granberg from Randy behind the drums and Mathias Oldén from Logh on bass, it's a combo that really tightens the sound together. And once and for all; I think we can finally erase that "emo rock"-mark LDOA have been labelled with for so long now.
- Jonas Appelqvist

Mixtapes & Cellmates
s/t
Nomethod

I've often wondered if the point of music is to punctuate the sprawling, sequenced moments of life, to trap memories in such a way that when we hear a song five years on from that first listen we remember the smell of a room, the clothes a girl we knew was wearing, and, most importantly, how it felt to be alive at that time and place in our lives. Mixtapes & Cellmates' recent full-length seems to add weight to my idealistic, dreamer's philosophy; the first instants of "Hold" took me back to warm summer evenings in Stockholm with its wonderfully interwoven elements of Magnet, Last Days of April, and the Radio Dept. This unique layering of influences doesn't detract from the distinctly original approach of the members, instead giving the compositions the ability to bring whispers of nostalgia to a recognizable volume while still etching itself into the present. Mixtapes & Cellmates is a flowing expanse of youthful energy and maturely crafted songs. The production wonderfully highlights the talents of the members: electronic elements provide many of the core facets of the melodies, but without becoming annoying or distracting, providing the backdrop for the soft, yet confident vocals and lost, sprawling guitar lines. The end product is a collection of confidently written, well presented, and full-bodied songs, even in the sparser sections of compositions like "The better half of cynical boys". Mixtapes & Cellmates holds as much dawn as it does early evening, giving it the versatile strengths required to be both a good summer and winter album; hopeful even in its darker moments, as I'd like to look back on these moments of youth in five years.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

MP3: Last Days of April - Do for two

This week's Friday mp3 pick belongs to Matt Giordano:

Last Days of April has always been one of those groups that, whilst I like a handful of tracks, the rest of the lot has never really been able to grab my attention. Maybe it's because (to me anyway) the slower numbers tend to all sound rather similar, no matter when they have been recorded. The progression of the band since heading the pop route has been very slight, however it's with the uptempo pop songs where the band succeeds. Maybe it's because that's where Karl Larsson's pseudo-teen angst succeeds best - in capturing the energy of his moment of frustration. Anyway, the band's new album is out now, and although I've yet to hear it, here is one of the two songs I consider to be the band's best (and the only ones I subsequently listen to). Enjoy.

Matt's pick: "Do for two" from 2004's "If you lose it". The runner-up? My all-time favorite LDOA song "Playerin", off the 2002 album "Ascend to the stars". Seeing as how I've posted that one at least twice now over the years (once when it was new and once to revisit), I figure it's good to diversify.

Last Days of April - Do for two

The video for the new Last Days of April single "Who's on the phone?" is now online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUA2W4tIiaU

Not only does Last Days of April's new album "Might as well live" come out in Japan today on Imperial/Teichiku, there's also a new tribute album on Evol Records being released simultaneously. Tracklist:

01. Nature Living - All will break
02. Veltpunch - Bitter taste
03. Reach Up To The Universe - Will the violins be playing?
04. Pinkloop - Somehow
05. Even - Off the cliff
06. The Featherside - Too close
07. Everyday, It's Like Carnival - Playerin
08. Mule - Last Days Of April (eary 90'S style )

Last Days of April on tour in the UK supporting The Ataris:

04/29 - Portsmouth, Wedgewood Room
04/30 - Leeds, Cockpit
05/01 - Manchester, Academy
05/02 - Birmingham, Academy
05/03 - Glasgow, Garage
05/04 - London, Mean Fiddler

Bad Taste is offering up an mp3 from the new Last Days of April album "Might as well live": http://www.mejeriet.net/badtaste/mp3/last_days_of_april_-_whos_on_the_phone.mp3

Last Days of April mainman Karl Larsson will be doing a number of acoustic showcase shows around Europe to promote his new album "Might as well live":

01/22 - The Monto, London (UK)
01/23 - Winston Kingdom, Amsterdam (NL)
01/25 - Stereo Wonderland, Köln (GER)
01/26 - Privatclub, Berlin (GER)
01/30 - Sala Castelló, Barcelona (ESP)
01/31 - Atomic Bar, Milan (ITA)

Last Days of April has two brand new songs up on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/ldoa