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Good power pop bands have this thing--this ability to turn a catchy song into one that's outright feverish. They leave you with no choice but to clap or tap your foot along. The Drawbacks have that thing. The group, based in Falköping, Sweden, offers five well-constructed songs on this release. Guitars surge on the big chorus of "Orange", while a fast tempo and sing-along backing vocals make "Straight lines and circles" a standout. The bitter lyrics on "Transparency" are subsumed by the dazzling melody and soaring harmonies, bringing Teenage Fanclub to mind. The spacier "Trampoline" doesn't work quite as well, but a lot of bands would relish the luxury of having a song that solid be the weakest spot on the CD. I'm dumbfounded that their last guitarist left them to play heavy metal. If you're headed to the west of Sweden, go see The Drawbacks--and shake to that tambourine!
- Matthew W. Smith
Heavily steeped in folk of different kinds, I can identify Irish at least, but also with a bit of traditional vocal jazz and some classical instrumentation, the David Härenstam Band cover a lot of ground. However, they do stay within a certain slow, vocal jazz-type, meditative pace but they always throw a little curve ball to keep things interesting. This is not my cup of tea, it is however very well done. See if that sounds good to you.
- Simon Thibaudeau
I haven't got a clue who Per Lundin is, but to justify the lack of quality on these three songs I hope he's not older than 15. I bet he got all the right intention and is influenced by some great music, but he nevertheless he sounds as a very feeble Damien Jurado. If these songs were crafted really early in Per Lundin's career, I'd say there's still hope, because it's not utter crap but to be frank, the songs are just too clichéd (to such an extent that it's almost laughable). "my life", with its 80s atmosphere, is almost excruciating to listen to. I think mr. Lundin would have been better off singing in his native language (Swedish?) or just try and keep his music and lyrics really simple (like Broder Daniel), because his lyrics are so bad they really stick out which makes them rather hard to ignore (example: "my heart is mine, yours is yours / Leave the past. Close the door") and the music is often way too pretentious. On a positive note, I really like the first 30 seconds of "Path of life", it sounds like a great emo moment but then the song just turns into another myriad of derivative nonsense. Also, there's a lot of Bruce Springsteen-like gusto in Per's voice, which is always a good thing. But we're still left with something that has been done before, many times, much better.
- Simon Tagestam
maybe it was on purpose, maybe not, but the grammatical error in the title of the album does not actually give a good first impression. Regardless, Éric Rámsey does a decent job of combining post-punk with a lot of Stereolab. With the help of electronics, Rámsey is able to sometimes create sometimes spacey, sometimes rocking numbers that most of times manage to be danceable. Certainly a worthy addition to your discography even though he owes a lot to the aforementioned Anglo-French band.
- Simon Thibaudeau
Sondre Lerche, the Norwegian singer/songwriter/crooner, is very charming. His music, lyrics, appearance, and especially his peculiar small-talk in-between songs will easily have any man or woman charmed right out of their pants. All this jolly charm is of course on the verge of being a bit too much, but Sondre seems to have calculated it specifically not to be either too dark or too happy. This is why Sondre Lerche's music works as a great antidote against such "darker" artists like Will Oldham, Bright Eyes, Smog etc. Live it works rather splendidly as well, with Sondre playing a balanced mix of songs from his two albums, and even though he's alone on stage with only his guitar as company, his intriguing charisma and intricate guitar playing is enough to transfix everyone at this sold-out show. If I get a chance to see Sondre Lerche again I think I'll bring my girlfriend and get a bit drunk, so I can pretend to be a drunken romantic for a night (Sondre's music suits as the perfect soundtrack for such an escapade).
- Simon Tagestam
This Stockholm quintet says, "We do whatever we like, and then we do it completely different." On "We know you love us and that's why we do this", they take that idea and create this sort of brooding brand of industrial/punk that burrows in your mind with its droning bass lines, synth and dissonant guitars that combine themselves with crafty drumming. The vocals are haunting at times and almost reminiscent of Trent Reznor. I do agree with Avi's sentiment of them being borderline Nine Inch Nails-esque in some of their songs (i.e. "Defeated" and "my Life with the montana midnight Rider pt. 2", which reminds me of NIN's "The day the world went away".) "Dirtnap" is totally danceable, in my book. Pretty interesting stuff, although "Elephant machine" felt out of place on the album and sort of killed the mood.
- Navy Keophan
I went and saw the Shout Out Louds last night and am happy to report that, after waiting to see them for two years, I was not let down. Nothing fancy, just a good, solid set. Of course, they couldn't really compete with headliners The Futureheads, they're not from Sweden, so that's all I'm gonna say about that. I presume SOL will be back in the US later this summer once their album "Howl howl gaff gaff" finally gets released over here. It's about time! Those poor guys - they must be so sick of playing those old songs.
New mp3 today from Swedish melancholic pop band Valley Days. I was originally going to post one of the band's excellent broody ballads, but lack of sleep (see above and remember- I start work early) made me go with this upbeat number instead. It's just what I need to get me going this Friday. Anyhow, this song is the final track from the band's debut full-length "We like pretending" which they recorded and released themselves. It's quite impressive because not only is the sound quality great, but so is the artwork and packaging. As for the music, it's got everything I look for in the genre: huge hooks, keening vocals and that uniquely Scandinavian quality of gloom and heavy-heartedness. Dig that three-over-four melody line in the verse, too. If you like this, be sure to check out the band's website where you can contact the band to order the album and download more tunes.
Swedish 8-bit Gameboy rocker Convex will be doing some shows in the US as part of the "Data Destruction Tour" alongside NYC-based acts Nullsleep and Bit Shifter. Dates:
03/11 - The Tank, New York NY w/Bubblyfish, Aonami
03/14 - The Enormous Room, Cambridge mA
03/15 - The Lager House, Detroit mI w/mesu Kasumai
03/17 - The Bottom Lounge, Chicago IL w/Bud melvin
03/19 - The Khyber, Philadelphia PA w/8Cylinder
03/20 - vertexList, Brooklyn NY w/Glomag, mark DeNardo, Huoratron (FIN)
more info and mp3 samples: m/" target=_blank>https://destroy.8bitpeoples.com/
Norwegian singer/songwriter St. Thomas will do some support dates with Of montreal in the US in April. Here's the schedule so far:
04/07 - Atlanta, GA
04/08 - Raleigh, NC
04/09 - Williamsburg, VA
04/10 - Philadelphia, PA
04/11 - Providence, RI
04/12 - Cambridge, mA
04/13 - Northampton, mA
04/15 - Burlington, VT
04/16 - Brooklyn, NY
04/18 - Purchase, NY
04/19 - Pittsburgh, PA
04/20 - Cleveland, OH
04/21 - Cincinnati, OH
The first single from the upcoming DAD album will be called "Scare your self" and comes out on march 29. The album follows on may 23.
Check out the video for the upcoming Spider & I single "White heart": ml" target=_blank>https://www.blueberries.se/WhiteHeart.html
Updated tourdates for Psychopunch:
03/18 - Bunker, Chemnitz (GER) w/Diversion
03/19 - ROCK IT, Aalen (GER) w/Diversion
04/01 - Teestube, Lindern (GER)
04/02 - Underground, Cologne (GER)
04/03 - Cubus, Karlsruhe (GER)
04/04 - K 19, Kassel (GER)
04/05 - tba
04/06 - moritzbastei, Leipzig (GER)
04/07 - Arcadium, Graz (AUS) w/Southpaw, Roter Stern Silberstern
04/08 - Shelter, Wien (AUS)
04/09 - Club Vaudeville, Lindau (GER) w/V8 Wankers
04/10 - tba
04/11 - Kulturladen, Konstanz (GER)
04/12 - Garage, münchen (GER)
04/13 - Universum, Stuttgart (GER)
04/14 - mocca, Thun (SWI)
04/15 - tba
04/16 - Gaswerk, Winterthur (SWI)
04/17 - Espace B, Paris (FRA) w/Highschool motherfuckers
04/18 - mondo Bizarro, Rennes (FRA)
04/19 - Day off, Paris (FRA)
04/20 - Café Central, Weinheim (GER)
04/21 - Klangstation, Bonn (GER) w/Sombrero Skulls, Playground Zero
04/22 - Schulz, Ottweiler (GER)
04/23 - JK´t Hoekske, Gierle (BEL) w/Electric Eel Shock
05/27 - Omi Open Indoor, Oberndorf (GER)
06/17 - Dalmstock, Leutenbach (GER)
06/17 - Bretthart Open Air, Limbach (GER) w/Tankard, Samael, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
06/18 - Eurospeedaway Lausitz, Lausitz (GER) w/Böse Onkelz, monster magnet, DAD
06/19 - Wild at Heart, Berlin (GER)
07/30 - Riders Café, Lubeck (GER)
07/31 - Force Attack, Behnkenhagen (GER) w/The Bones, Peepshows, UK Subs
Labrador Records has confirmed the new Wan Light EP "That grim reality" for release on march 16 and the self-titled South Ambulance album for release on march 23. Check out some samples of the latter record from this review here: manchester.com/recension.asp?id=707&kat=rec" target=_blank>https://www.lemanchester.com/recension.asp?id=707&kat=rec