Label: V2
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This record just may be the best one released in the pre-summer months, and will prove listenable throughout said sunny days and warm nights. Peter Bjorn and John offer up their third proper full-length here, and although I was skeptical at first, upon more listens I'm finding myself loving this. It could just be the trees and flowers blooming and that everytime I listen to the album it's bright and sunny out, but I also think it's the trio's songwriting. With this record they have honed their craft into lilting pop melodies, yet still retaining the sounds and production values older fans have grown to love. "Young folks" is a damn fine first single, but the real highlights are "Amsterdam", "Paris 2004", "Let's call it off" and "The chills", with the last song containing one of the most beautiful closings I've heard in a long while. It may take the older fans a little while to get acclimated to a happier Peter Bjorn and John, but once you do, you'll realize that this record fits perfectly in the collection of what is becoming a tour de force in Swedish music.
- Matt Giordano
If I had a dime for every time a new Swedish super-group forms, well, I'd had a lot of dimes, but this just goes to show the cooperative nature of Swedish musicians that wants to make them work together. Markus Krunegård has proven himself to be quite a songsmith with Laakso, and he continues the trend here, but with an vastly different sound. Hets are a different breed, drawing elements from the Ramones, Black Flag and Gorilla Biscuits. The music and raw and very uptempo and the vocal lines squeal in their hugging-the-mic delivery. The ballads on the album soften the feel, but the fast tracks such as"Napalm på Östermalm", "Trist javisst" and "Ulf" is where the band shines. A solid debut record where each member brings their best.
- Matt Giordano
I guess we'll always have Paris. That is, bands LIKE Paris that are pretty good, pretty talented, pretty nice to listen to, but somehow a little less than transcendent. This Swedish quartet have made a second album that would be the envy of many lesser bands. The rhythm section is crack, and Annika's pipes are pleasing if sorta rote. Tunes alternate between ringing indie rock ala Elastica, Ladytron and a few others, and Annie-esque dance-pop like "60 minutes" and "Ladies man." And I dig the chiming guitars and retro-delica feel of "Something has to be done" very much. It all sounds dandy on the car stereo as you're zipping down the road, but I don't know...I just wasn't moved by Paris much. The down side of there being so many superb bands in Sweden is that you can be a perfectly fine little outfit, but if you don't have that extra edge, you suffer by comparison. And I just don't hear the edge in this band...not yet. Still better than lots of similar British and American bands, though. Maybe it'll be a grower, we'll see...
- Kevin Renick
Even though Laakso's band biography involves several break ups and reunions, it's basically a nice story of Swedish music business success. Their newest album "My gods", a decent interplay of twelve churned up songs, proves this very well: Released by the big label V2, produced by a certain Jari Haapalainen (Yes, right, that's the same guy who has worked with Ed Harcourt, Moneybrother, Kristofer Åström and The Concretes) and including some backing vocals by a very certain Nicolai Dunger. Well, of course a record isn't just about some famous names written on the booklet's last page. But even just focusing the music, "My gods" turns out to be a pleasant piece of melodic art. OK, it's probably not the catchiest album that has been released in Sweden during the last months, but still it has everything a good pop CD needs to have: Emotional tunes, guts to try out something new and a stick-out hit song ("High drama"). Markus Krunegård's characteristic voice underlines brilliantly the intimate lyrics which are thematically ranging from self-pity drowned in fuel to an ironic view on the junk of the hearts. Summing it up, Laakso has created an interesting and good-sounding audio portrait of the variety of emotions circulating around the all-time number-one-topic also known as "love".
- Janis Meissner
This is Laakso's first release on a major label, and they sound just like when they were on Adrian Recordings, only better. It's as if they've all of a sudden had some sort of epiphany and realized what all their shortcomings were and instantly scrapped them while totally utilizing all the stuff that makes them such a great band. All the four songs here are catchy, melodic, and great – it's quirky indie rock to its fullest (even better than The Shout Out Louds). Hopefully their major label deal will make Laakso as gigantic as their music.
- Simon Tagestam
So, she’s back again, the first lady of secrecy. Obviously, the collected Swedish rockcritics – which are just as trustworthy as, say, Fox News - have hyped this album beyond belief, but is it really that good? Well, let’s put it this way – if there’d be any justice in this world and bla bla bla this album would go number 1 all over the fucking world. Eleven perfect pop songs for your night in. And the record is worth its cost for the song "The end of a love affair" alone.
- Jason Christie
Peter Bjorn and John
Laakso
