Sweden: No Longer Just a Subject of Jamie Lee Curtis's Mockery

I've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks so I haven't had time to post, but I've been inspired by the resurgence of the Swedish music scene. On Tuesday The Hives released a new record, and last night Jens Lekman played a show at the Parish in Austin, both of which left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside me tumbly.

The Hives have followed a very similar career path to that of The Strokes: Breakthrough album sells huge due to string of popular singles; everyone hates the second album but then realizes a few months later that it's actually better; release third album which isn't revelatory but explores new ideas and sticks enough to the old style to keep old fans happy. I thought that Tyrannosaurus Hives was criminally underrated when it came out a few years ago, and its lack of a popular single caused The Hives to slip into relative obscurity since.

However, their new record, The Black and White Album features a few songs that could put them back in the spotlight where they belong. B & W is by no means as good as T. Hives or as viscerally fast-paced as Veni Vidi Vicious, but the album finds the band trying out plenty of new things. Most notably, Howlin' Pelle Almqvist shows much more vocal range, much like Julian Casablancas did on the third Strokes record. "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.," produced by Pharell Williams, grooves like a Kraftwerk-Queen mashup with Howlin' Pelle busting out his best Les Savy Fav falsetto. You could even argue that he croons on "Won't Be Long," which is the album's strongest track and features a super-groovy synth lead.

All three of the first tracks are potential blockbuster singles, with "You Got it All...Wrong" providing the catchiest chorus of the three. Everybody always calls The Hives "dumb rock," which it most certainly is, but their lyrics -- still hilariously credited to the mysterious Randy Fitzimmons -- are often just as clever as Joey Ramone or Jonathan Richman, which is especially impressive considering that English is their second language. The best example of this is the "school-stinks" closing anthem, "Fall is Just Something That Grownups Invented," which has the same tongue-in-cheek quality as "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" or "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out."

The album is not without its flaws, though. Sometimes the band's newfound experimentation gets the best of them, as on the too-kitschy instrumental, "A Stroll Through Hive Manor Corridors" which tries to emulate the horror-movie dramatics of the excellent "Diabolic Scheme" off of T. Hives, but just comes off bland. Also, "Puppet of a String" tries a slow vaudeville piano effect while Howlin' Pelle ambles through the lyrics, marking the first time in the man's career that he could be accused of being lazy. Overall though, the album is fun as always and a great way to spend a half-hour. 7/10

Now, on to Jens Lekman

I've been gushing about Jens Lekman since he came out with his stunning Night Falls Over Kortedala a couple months back, so I was pretty ecstatic to find out that he was coming to Austin and playing at The Parish, arguably the best venue in town. Even though I ended up going to the concert alone, drinking the amount that I would have spent on a date, I walked away feeling happier than I ever have following a concert. I saw him at the bar during the opening act and said to him, "Hey Jens, you got a good one for us tonight?" He crawled into his shell and meekly replied, "I sure hope so" and then crept backstage to regather himself.

Shy as he was beforehand, he was an impeccable showman. Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar, he provided all of the necessary beats and background vocals with a loop pedal. After about the third song, he requested that the house lights be turned on in order to "take a look at all you charming people," only to become more nervous when he saw how many people were there. Among the best songs was Kortedala standout "A Postcard to Nina," which he annotated with the full story of playing boyfriend in front of a lesbian friend's father. Also fantastic were "A Pocketful of Money" from When I Said I Wanted to be Your Dog, which ended in a haunting a capella audience singalong and a charming cover of Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al." Also, one of the girls from Architecture in Helsinki, who were doing a set down the street at Emo's, came onstage to dance and do backing vocals on "The Opposite of Hallelujah." Normally I don't like to listen to band for at least an hour after seeing them live, but I was singing along to Jens on my bike the entire ride home.

Check back tomorrow when I will hopefully have an update on tonight's epic Art Brut/Hold Steady show. Top of the Pops!