Two guys from Gothenburg, life-long chums Daniel Hogberg and Bjorn Synneby,
have created the type of slick electro-pop of years gone by with a 21st century
twist.
The pair harmonise like the Beach Boys on top form, so that gives it immediate
credibility. Ok, so their remit is clearly directed towards MOR (and the feet/floor),
nevertheless this is still an excellent, and it never borders on ‘cheesy’.
Reveries is the perfect summer album actually, and might one
day make one of those never ending Best Summer Albums of All Time lists.
Somewhere along the line they more than match the likes of French popsters
Air and Daft Punk, ELO, Human League and tiny tiny shades of… dare I say it..
Pink Floyd. Others might say they’re the Swedish equivalent of The Scissor
Sisters, which is probably true.
The summer fun starts with a real punch – Villanova Sunset, a throbbing
but sophisticated dance classic that would grace any club in Europe. The swooning
golden harmonies kick-in on the chunky poppy Break Your Social System.
The immediate effect is that your left (or right foot) is already tapping without
you realising. The Beach Boys appreciation is massively evident from the high
pitch harmonies of the out-and-out pop template of Sunset Blvd. This
song is so darn gorgeous it’s almost too good to be true, but it is.
Hot Lips is unashamed pop at its best, one the ‘Sisters’ would be proud
of, though the vocal has dropped to the tone of Phil Oakey. There’s a similar
frame around the pulsating Number One yet another targeted for the
floor, whereas Runaway To Elsewhere retains pop beats, with the pair
wandering into bouts of Floyd ambience, and its the only instrumental.
Taking a breather from the disco heat, Love Isn’t Always On Time, is
pure and dreamy ear candy. They hit snippets of Pink Floyd again especially on
the David Gilmour guitar breaks. More clever pop emerges on the radio friendly
they’re all radio friendly in truth) Disappear and Silent Running,
though on the later, there’s some stylish country-Stones guitar licks.
Not wishing to forget Brian Wilson, Live Before Seven is the kind of
Beach Boys magic of the Pet Sounds era…even a deep backup mentions ‘surfs up’.
ELO gets a massive nod on closer A Tree, which ends on a sunny note –
how else?
1. Villanova Sunset
2. Break Your Social System
3. Sunset Blvd
4. Hot Lips
5. Number One
6. Runway To Elsewhere
7. Love Isn’t Always On Time
8. Disappear
9. Silent Running
10. Live Before Seven
11. A Tree
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
