If someone was to write a how-to on becoming a pretentious indie-popster who condescends to others' musical tastes and feel completely justified in doing so, I think that buying this album would be pretty close to the top of the list. Camera Obscura is a great band that has evolved into an incredibly awesome band. Anyone who isn't impressed by listening to this CD is a complete Philistine, as far as I'm concerned. After listening to the very first few seconds of the opening song, "French Navy," I was immediately hooked.
Do you miss the 80's as much as I do? Did you come of age listening to bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, New Order, Tears For Fears, XTC, Modern English, and Orchestral Manoevers in the Dark? Do you wish bands out there somewhere still make 80's style music? Well, look no futher than this cleverly-named Swedish band, The Mary Onettes. From the incredibly great Labrador Records label, this band has fed my nostalgia for the 80's.
Admittedly, the opening track, "Pleasure Songs," is a bit weak. If you like, skip ahead to the second track, "Lost," and you will see what I'm talking about. This is the best song on the album. The song starts out with a great drumline, then a severely New Order-inspired riff, and then the song explodes into a synthesizer tune suitable for a theme song to a John Hughes teen movie. By the time you listen to the next track, the Echo and the Bunnymen-flavored "Void," you should be hooked. "The Laughter" is a slower, 80's style ballad. The pace picks up again with "Slow," and by now you should be feeling nostalgic for the 80's for sure. The top three songs on this CD are "Lost," "Void," and "Under the Guillotine."
The great thing about The Mary Onettes is that although their songs nod to several different 80's bands, they still stand on their own. I remember long ago, this girl I was friends with on the Net was raving about a Canadian band called Moxy Fruvous, and how disappointed I was when I finally listened to their CD. Each song was nothing but a copy of various bands. One song sounded just like something from XTC, one song sounded just like Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, and so on. The net result was a band with no soul that simply aped other bands. They did a good job doing so, but listening to them was more akin to an album by Weird Al Yankovic but without the comedy. The Mary Onettes delivers a package that is entirely their own sound, which is refreshing. They take the 80's sound and make something new from it.
Robert Smith from the Cure and Morrissey from The Smiths may have disliked each other quite a bit, but there's nothing to stop listeners like myself to be fans of both. And it sure hasn't stopped The Shout Out Louds from being fans of both bands to the extend that the influences of both are undeniable when listening to this album. I must thank my cousin Bethany for turning me onto this fantastic band. I am now convinced of how incredibly awesome the Swedish music scene has grown for quite some time, and I'm embarassed to not have noticed it by now.
Anyhow, back to the Shout Out Louds. The album drew me in with the first and best track, "Tonight I Have To Leave It." The influence of Robert Smith on the vocals is obvious, but it presents a unique experience on its own. Whenever this song comes out, my little baby daughter gets so excited and just wants to dance. Jangly, poppy, and dancy, this song is just such an upbeat mood-lifter. The second track, "Your Parents' Living Room," is where I find a good influence from The Smiths. "Impossible" is another excellent track that is, well, impossible to not sing along to, even though the lyrics don't seem to make much sense. It's followed up with "Normandie," which is such an incredibly great song and reminds me a lot of The Cure's "Close To Me." The closing track, "Hard Rain," is another great dance song to be enjoyed over and over again.
Get a load of my NEAT CRAP by seeing what's next!
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