07/27/09
Text: Nik Mercer
Ever since the soothing, spacey, and always irresistibly bouncy Balearic disco jams of Sweden's Studio hit our ear drums a few years back (remember when we hailed them as one of our bands to watch in '07?), we've kept a keen eye on the mysterious duo's little label, Information.
Once Fontän―another ethereal duo whose studio work just happened to be overseen by one half of Studio (Rasmus Hägg)―dropped their debut full-length, we were convinced that Information would be here to stay―but we never imagined they'd throw us a curve ball in the form of a pop album!
That's right, folks, the dudes behind numerous epic, brain- and heart-melting (swelling?) sonic odysseys ("West Side," "Out There") have gifted us eight 2–3-minute-long radio-friendly cuts that we're hooked on. The band is aptly going by the Crêpes, so yes, think high sugar content.
The Crêpes, like many of their Swedish music brethren, somehow manage to merge melancholic romanticism with warm and fuzzy hooks without coming off as cheesy in the slightest. (Jens Lekman, meet your competition!) The folks behind the Crêpes have clearly ingested a tremendous amount of U.K. post-punk icons (Joy Division, the Cure, hell, even New Order), loads of the country's late-80s somber innovators' work (Cocteau Twins, the Smiths), and a whole mess of, jeez, we don't even know what to call the "X factor" in question. Maybe 60s loungey bossa nova? A Burt Bacharach homage?
Eh, judge for yourselves after listening to the debut long-player, What Else? or sampling the title track (download below).
Oh, and if you're thinking to yourself, "Boy the production work here sounds a lot like Studio," know that Dan Lissvik of Studio is indeed the man who fills that role here; and if you're asserting, "I bet the singer is Fredrik Lindson of the Embassy," pat yourself on the back as you guessed right!
What Else? ships today. Only 300 vinyl copies are available, so buy it here right now.
