Tough Customer // Wire

The Sweet Serenades

Sweet Serenades

When it rains, it pours. At least that’s what it says on the side of the salt shaker, and lately I’ve found it to be pretty true. I won’t bore you with the details of my personal life, but I will say that in a matter of months I have gone from having not much to do to being busier a pimp on payday. Between freelance work, label work, and trying to rebuild my house, I figure I’ve been averaging about four hours of sleep a night. I haven’t seen my friends in months, much less gone out to do anything fun. And my inbox. Jesus Effin Christ. My inbox is like a rouge wave threatening to pull me into the deep.

Sadly, that’s what happens when you run a music site that is basically a labor of love. When people offer you money to do other things - or when a lot of people offer you a little money to do a lot of other things all at the same time - your priorities shift. This blog lies neglected while I get sent out to write stories about lesbian sex wrestling and how neck size affects sleep quality (I’ll tell you about it later). And meanwhile the records just keep coming.

I try to be systematic about it, but when I have 279 unopened music submissions from the last month alone, I basically just have to start from the edges and work my way in. Sometimes I’ll go to the end of the queue and sometimes I’ll start from the beginning. It’s rare that I will say this, but in this case it’s a good thing that so much of what I get is crap. It allows me to separate the wheat from the chaff that much more quickly.

Anyway, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel as things start to wind down toward the end of the year. I’m still crazy busy, but at least I’ve had a moment to catch my breath, get a flu shot and dig through my email. I was picking through the pile yesterday, and I came upon yet another gem of a Swedish rock band.

Seriously Sweden, WTF? Are you guys trying to steal Brooklyn’s mojo or something? It seems like every rock band, singer or DJ you send our way is fucking golden. It’s making me rethink everything I ever thought about your country - which, to be honest, wasn’t much. But now I’m thinking about getting on an airplane and checking you out. We all know you’ve got hot girls and good vodka, and now it appears that you are a musical force to be reckoned with as well. All you have to do is wait for this global warming thing to pan out and you, Sweden, might beat out Brazil for the top spot on my vacation list.

Assuming I make it over there, the first band I’m going to check out is The Sweet Serenades. This band does indie pop rock as well as, if not better than anybody from Willaimsburg or Silver Lake. Phoenix would be a pretty accurate comparison, but The Sweet Serenades are a little more gritty and lo-fi in a way that makes them more likeable. Their new album Balcony Cigarettes is full of jangling guitars, crisp 1970s drum lines and a panoply of hand claps, keyboard riffs, and Cheap Trick-esque vocal melodies.

Again, I don’t know what life is like in Sweden these days, but judging from the music they’re putting out, Swedish youth are just now living through the coolest part of 1979. I think it’s safe to say that Brooklyn better watch its back. Same goes for Portland, LA, Austin and Seattle. Stockholm is coming up fast behind you. Their bands are as good as yours and their beards are just as scraggly. If I didn’t know better I would say they are just one pair of skinny jeans away from usurping your indie rock throne.

In fact, I’m so far behind, this might have happened already. If that’s the case, would somebody please let me know? Send me an email - I’ll get to it in a couple of months.

MP3: ‘On My Way’