Abba minus the cheese
Meet The Concretes, the anti-rock band that somehow have managed to seep some rock influences into their first EP, "Say Something New". Of course, there aren't any dirty riffs lingering with their pungent aroma on this CD, nor are there wild solos, heavily smothered with flanger effects. Okay, so that only really rules out early Metallica-and-their-ilk-comparisons, but my point here is that this CD could be easily interpreted as being the creation of some obscure indie rock band, not a Swedish pro-pop band that was formed by some girls in Stockholm over eight years ago.
Just to reassure you, this may be Swedish and this may be pop, but this isn't Abba, or anyone trying to be those ancient Swedish lovelies. The eight strong band combine brass instruments, synthesisers and the classic guitar, bass and drums to form some, as I mentioned before, indie/pop/rock. Okay, so that might be a contradiction in terms, but seriously, you know what I mean. Apart from the regular members of the Concretes, every track here except the final one contains a multitude of, as they put it in the inlay, "Honorary Concretes" - extra guys and girls which bring mandolins, accordians and strings into the musical fray. Most of their live performances bring a few of these people with them, turning the scene up on stage into one closely resembling a music shop at Christmas - before all the instruments sell out.
The fifteen minute showcasing of the Concretes songs certainly shows why they're a big hit in Sweden. There's the initial opener, and no doubt single song, "Say Something New", with its oriental synthing, optimistic lyrics - pleasantly conveyed via Victoria Bergsman's lungs and vocal chords - and subtly pleasing guitar parts. The next song, "Forces", closely resembles riding on a punting boat down a canal in Venice at about 8pm in October. So, yes, accordians means Italian-style music - the cliches never fail. "Forces" is followed by "Sugar", which adds in some icy glockenspieling to that traditional Concrete sound, and paves the way for the Rolling Stones cover, "Miss You" - the final track on the EP. It's the same song, sure, but the Concretes have definately adapted the song totally to their own style - dragging the song out for longer and completely mixing up the musical parts (albeit in a good way).
To reiterate: The Concretes are a pleasant enough band if you're into soothing music with a much more subtle degree of emotion behind it, ie, not pseudo-angsty screaming (angsty screaming n. 1. Linkin Park) but a much more "real" feeling behind the music. Sweden seems to have done it again.