Labels: Oscarson
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Following on the heels of Oscarson reissuing that spectacular Kepler LP comes this beautifully packaged reissue of a band I was not familiar with. There’s a lot to get stuck into on this record as it clocks in at almost an hour, but it makes for a really gentle listen and certainly suits the time of year. The best material sees them play upbeat post rock influenced indie, such as the twinkling “Velvet Light Trap” which is one of the standout songs and so very autumnal. By upbeat I mean that it’s relatively poppy, it doesn’t get bogged down in guitar solos and fx and technical tedium – these folks can actually pen a decent song. It reminds me a little bit of Pinback but with a Scandinavian twist, the band being from Sweden, and I could easily imagine this as the soundtrack whilst I was staring out of the window on the drive back to Gothenburg from Marstrand this time last year after a pretty spectacular day. Overall it might be a touch too long for my tastes (and the last song is a 10 minute live track), my attention does start to wander but there is plenty of good stuff on here and if you do get distracted it’s perfectly good background music anyway. This is a fine album, and top work from Oscarson to get it out there as it’s deserving of finding an audience.