Labels: Labrador
Review by: Andy Malcolm
This is a nice LP, although not quite as good as I was expecting having rather enjoyed an mp3 prior to purchase.
Still, it’s not shabby at all and makes for a pleasant if not particularly stunning listen. There are 13 tracks
which mostly tread the ground of gentle and slumbering indie pop laced with a little electronic inflection. The
track which triggered my purchase of this record appears at #2, “Where Damage Isn’t Already Done”, which takes
the form of a slightly more rocking effort than most that are on here. Cute, fuzzy distortion (which works
particularly well on the drumming), wavery vocals and a repetetive little tune. Blissful. Elswhere they squeeze
in some airy shoegaze elements into their meandering pop, and it generally works well although the record can see
a little one paced and samey at times. Most of the songs revisit the distortion and fuzz which can get a bit
irritating at some times when they lay it on a bit thick for example on “Why Don’t You Talk About It?”. They do
wander off into other territory occasionally, “Slottet #2” is a really nice instrumental track with waves sampled
I think (CHRISTIE FRONT DRIVE!) and the music pretty much emulates lying on a beach with nobody else around and a
blue sky pretty well, although that is kind of hard to envisage when it’s 6 degrees celsius outside. Brr. They
also mix things up a tiny bit with “Strange Things WIll Happen”, where a female singer takes over main duties and
most of the fuzziness disappears too. It makes for a nice change, and it would have been nice to hear the
boy-girl harmonies that work so well on this song crop up elsewhere on the lp, although it is a little twee and
too much of this kind of thing would over-sugar the pudding.
Overall, it’s not the greatest music you’ll hear all year but a darn site better than other indie/electronica I
have come across, such the Postal Service (just listen to the Pet Shop Boys). If you appreciate good pop music
that has been mussed up slightly, you may enjoy this.