Okay, it’s been awhile and I really don’t have a good excuse, unless you think being lazy, watching The Stanley Cup Playoffs, working, and trying to listen to all the music I’ve downloaded in the past month is an excuse.  Along with the new album from Camera Obscura I’ve been listening to another band called The Legends. Yes, it’s another Swedish Indie band and you might have heard of the lead singer Johan Angergård. His other two bands are Club 8 and Acid House Kings. I don’t know how he finds time for three bands and is also the founder of Labrador Records (I’m feeling really useless right now).

Like Club 8 and Acid House Kings, The Legends has the typical Swedish Indie, Twee sound, but depending on what record you buy their style of music changes. That’s definitely not a bad thing and it keeps the albums unique and less monotonous. The album Up Against The Legends is one of their most popular albums and has more of a loud, echoey, reverb feel to it. There are songs  that are very catchy and just fun to play loud. Lets just say you might want to just get up and dance when you hear some of the songs.  Here’s an example (Wait until about a minute into the song for the catchy female vocals to come in). I just got hooked when I heard this song.

I mentioned above they have a unique sound depending on what album you get. With the album Facts and Figures, they went with more of a synth, electronic, new wave sound.  I can’t tell you why they went this direction, which was a total 180 from Up Against The Legends, but they don’t disappoint. It’s like they were trying to challenge themselves to see if they can transcend various styles.  Mission accomplished.

I got one more album called Public Radio. This is probably their less popular album, but it does have some gems. I believe this album was released between Up Against The Legends and their last album, Facts and Figures. You can tell by the subtle changes with the addition of some drum machines and a synthesized sound in a few of the songs that they were experimenting a bit. Example you say?

Well, I hope you got to listen to something new and hopefully spark some interest in the group. Oh,  and they’re releasing an album on May 6 titled Over and Over. Does that mean a US Tour? I really hope so…

Acid House Kings

This four piece band has been around since the early 90′s and are now signed to Labrador Records. The Acid House Kings are pretty much your happy,  jolly,  jangly, indie sound, but they have shown signs that they can move from that and produce some nice soft indie tunes. Their last album, Sing Along With Acid House Kings, had a bonus karaoke DVD consisting of the instrumental of all their songs off the album. Here are some examples from the DVD.

Club 8

Club 8 has two members. One of them being Johan Angergård, who’s also in Acid House Kings, and also female vocalist Karolina Komstedt. They have a really laid back sound, which makes you think of lazy weekends lounging around. Their third self entitled album, Club 8, has a trip-hop influence and they kind of remind me of a chilled out Saint Etienne. Even though their roots are in the indie sound, they’re not afraid to take a chance and experiment a bit. Have a listen.

The Radio Dept.

You might of heard this band if you saw or bought the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette. I did neither, so I guess I was late to the party. I should of at least checked out the soundtrack more considering Sofia has good taste in music. I just couldn’t get over the trailer when I heard “Ceremony” being played over Kirsten Dunst. For some reason it just rubbed me the wrong way.

Sorry, back to the topic of The Radio Dept. Their sound is closer to shoegazing, but mixed with indie pop. This could be a good thing in my opinion. Not too heavy sounding, but not too happy bubble gum pop either. Of course I’m guilty of liking both ends of the spectrum.

I hope that I was able to introduce you to some more Swedish Indie bands, and if you are interested, make sure to check out Labrador Records. Most of the bands that I mentioned are signed under Labrador and they have plenty more bands to choose from.

As you all know I just got my eMusic account and I went a bit crazy downloading songs. The good news is that I have some more indie bands to discuss and especially some Swedish Indie.

The first band on the list is Sambassadeur. They’re signed to Labrador Records, which is pretty much the beacon of Swedish Indie. Many of the popular bands that I’ll be talking about in the future are all tied to this label, so go ahead and check out the site. Most of Sambassadeur’s songs are sung by the female vocalist Anna Persson (what a surprise, Archa likes a female indie fronted band). She doesn’t have the typical “Swedish Drunken Girl” voice like Victoria Bergsman, but it’s still soft, not too whispery, and definitely catchy. The other band members are guitarist/songwriter Joachim Läckberg, guitarist/vocalist Daniel Permbo and bassist Daniel Tolergård. The songs are a range of jangly guitars, electronic beats, synthpop and a dash of effects pedal. Their music can end up sounding like a blend of Jesus and Mary Chain, Mono, and some futuristic medieval music. I’m sorry, that’s probably a bad description, but that’s why I blog and I’m not a writer for NME.  Why don’t I just give you some examples.

A bit of trivia for you. The song “Kate” was actually on a Payless Shoe commercial several years ago.