Yesterday evening I got a Facebook message from a friend of mine—a DJ, producer and soon-to-be label-head—expressing enmity for a certain band who will go unnamed. I defended their right to exist and he conceded to most of my points, but maintained that if—like him—I lived closer to their stomping grounds I’d be “begging them to stop” as well. That last tidbit reinforced a philosophy I ascribe to that suggests no matter where you live, and no matter how “cool” the neighborhood, city or region is supposed to be, the very act of living there will make it seem tiresome sooner or later.
No matter where you go there’s always gonna be too many townies, too many hipsters, too many cops, too much crime, too many thugs, too many nerds, too many dudes, too many bitches, too many shitty bands, too many scenester-packed night-spots (resulting in a seeming lack of “cool” places to go, the exact problem those residing in supposedly “un-cool” places complain of), too many assholes and too many douchebags. Reason being, assholes and douchebags are everywhere! In fact, chances are good somebody thinks you are an asshole or a douchebag! So regardless of where we make our home, our happiness and peace of mind are our own responsibility, not that of our friends, neighbors or the complete strangers we find so infuriating.
I had to revisit this concept later when one of my neighbors—one of the few I don’t find infuriating—called me asking for information about California after she got the sudden and inexplicable itch to move there because she just didn’t want to live here any more. With all due respect to her wanderlust I felt compelled to outline my ideology, and after listening and laughing at it for a while she said she saw my point—I assume this means I was proving my point by being an asshole myself—and asked me where I would go if I could just get up and leave. At the top of my list was Sweden.
With average high temperatures of 68–77°F in Summer, average low temperatures of 25–36°F in Winter and a government that subsidizes the arts—specifically budding school-age musicians and the bands of their Indie music scene—the world’s third-largest music exporter just seems like the perfect get-a-way to this frost-savoring music blogger. During 2006 I became obsessed with the nation’s music to such a degree that by the time New Year ‘07 rolled around I could put together a twelve hour playlist—which I titled A Hard Drive Thru Sweden—exclusively featuring Swedish Indie music. And while Swedish imports quickly became integral to my day-to-day listening—respect to Lykke Li—they haven’t dominated my playlists the same way during the last two years.
On the other hand, 2009 is already shaping up to be a year where Scandinavians will hold sway over my headphones once again. A number of my favorite Nordic acts—including the young folks who made it cool to whistle again, Peter Bjorn and John—have new albums on deck. And a couple of acts I was especially infatuated with in 2006—Haninge/Stockholm-based Twee-as-Folk-troni-Pop duo Suburban Kids With Biblical Names and Jönköping-bred one-man Indie-Pop orchestra Loney Dear—already have new records sitting on terrestrial and virtual store shelves and pumping out of my headphones.
The numerically-titled #4 EP from SKWBN is the long-awaited follow-up to 2005’s #3 LP. That record made alienation and thinking people around you are assholes—hey, wasn’t I just talking about that?—seem fun, and so does their new four-song EP. “Studenter PÃ¥ Flak” for example is—according to the band, the lyrics are Swedish—about Stockholm’s charms and pitfalls, but its effervescent Disco/House grooves, whistling solo, George Benson-esque Cool-Jazz bridge—which sound like an Ibiza remix of Bernard Hermann’s “Twisted Nerve”—make it feel so carefree. “1999″ does jubilant-but-brooding Indie-Disco navel-gazing like only of Montreal usually do. Only the downtempo “Europa,” which is about the rigours of touring, seems to lack a silver lining.
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names “1999″ (Download)
Speaking of Kevin Barnes and company, it was thanks to them I was able to see Loney Dear—whose Polyvinyl debut, stateside sophomore disc, and sixth LP overall Dear John is out now—live when he opened their Spring ‘07 tour. During that show at the now defunct Avalon I proudly clapped and sang along to tunes like “The City, The Airport” and “Saturday Waits.” His new album’s first single, an electro-acoustic orchestral Synthpop tune titled “Airport Surroundings,” glazes his previous work’s joyousness over with a dark desperation, coming off like retro-Goths She Wants Revenge, if they went out in the sun. The rest of the disc is possessed of similarly dour bombast.
Loney Dear “Airport Surroundings”
I never expected Loney Dear frontman Emil Svanängen—who was like Sweden’s answer to Ben Gibbard if he were the leader of Belle & Sebastian—riffing on Joy Division and Echo & the Bunnymen, but that’s what he’s doing on Dear John. Peter Gunnarson and his partner Johan Hedberg—who looks more like Buddy Holly than Rivers Cuomo ever could—of SKWBN on the other hand tempered their upbeat, catchy tuneage with malcontent kvetching from the very beginning. They always knew their hometown sucked, and now seem aware that everywhere else does too, while Loney Dear sounds as he’s only just discovered how much the people and places near him truly suck.
Don’t worry though Sweden, you’re still at the top of my list of places to go if I ever blow this pop-stand. And like I already said, I learned a long time ago to keep my expectations low and take responsibility for my own happiness, so if I ever get to visit I promise not to bitch too much.

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