Compare and contrast my post of May 18, 2005, with this one. Same band. Same song title. But just as the Swedish duo of Lindefelt and Fredrik have changed their performing name from The Lovekevins to The Love of Kevin, Colour, Chaos, and the Sound of K (or “The LK” for short), they have also changed their style. “Stop Being Perfect” has gone from being a textbook Swedish guitar-pop song to a textbook Swedish electronic pop song (there’s the contrast). No change though in their ability to craft a catchy pop song, one that induces singing along and toe-tapping. For the curious, some of those older “guitar” songs from their 2005 Max Leon EP can be downloaded from the Songs I Wish I Had Written website below.
Original Post (as the Lovekevins) 5/18/2005:
There’s nothing quite like blindly buying an album at the local record store and finding something you just love. Trust me, I’ve bought some real junk over the years (Betty Boo circa 1990, anyone?) in that pursuit. But I’ve found some really good stuff. Sometimes it’s the album cover (Jessamine), sometimes it’s the record label (Henry’s Dress), sometimes it’s just a good vibe (Super 5 Thor). Even today, in the new millenium, that still happens with the world wide web. I stumbled across a real gem of band, the Lovekevins, on the online store Delicious Goldfish Records. Fantastic Swedish pop that soars and bounces and captivates and I just have to go listen to “Stop Being Perfect” again right now.
Continue reading “The Love of Kevin, Colour, Chaos, and the Sound of K”
Really? Has it really been two a half years since Rademacher first appeared on 3hive? This foursome, led and driven by Malcolm Sosa, continues to mature, while still doing their own thing, man. Yes, they’ve made some changes over the years–style, personnel–but they still have their independence, their quirkiness, and an ear for a good tune, finally releasing their first full-length Stunts in December 2007 after three earlier EP’s.
It must have been 2004’s edition of our year end lists when I included British Sea Power in my section of “Our Favorite Wish-We-Could-Put-Them-on-3hive Artists” after I had been enjoying their LP The Decline of British Sea Power. Now jump to present day, and, voila, here is British Sea Power on the 3hive, asking you the question in the title of their latest LP Do You Like Rock Music? It’s also my way of making up for missing them at Noisepop in San Francisco last week (I also missed the Walkmen, ug). I know, excuses, excuses.
The day I’ve been waiting for has finally come. After waiting 19-odd months, today is the day we bring you a new song from the Ettes. Look at Life Again Soon, out March 11, picks up where their debut Shake the Dust left off, continuing their self-described beat-punk, adding a little more 60’s reverb to drench Coco’s coo-ing, a little more of Jem’s dirty bass, and whole lot of more of Poni’s pounding the snot outta her drum kit. Catch them if you can on their way from Florida to SXSW.
For this President’s Day, a holiday usually celebrating George Washington’s birthday, let’s look at the modern namesake of the party of John Adams, second president of the United States. The Federalists (the band), with their smart indie rock and a penchant for occasional flashes of electronics, hopefully will not repeat the political mistake of the Federalists (the political party) in opposing with War of 1812, which led to their eventual demise after Andrew Jackson’s surprise victory at New Orleans.
Buffalo’s Lemuria has been been a real working band since their formation in 2004. Touring, touring, and then more touring. So after putting out various singles and EP’s, their debut album Get Better is out now on Asian Man Records. And their song below, “Pants,” has triggered my obsessive compulsive disorder; besides having me absolutely hooked, it’s so catchy, fuzzy, and snappy, that after Sheena sings “You never missed a word I tried to fit/Inside a chorus, inside a verse, all my intros and the bridge/That’s where I put all the awful things I think I am/And if you still respect me I guess I’ll have a second chance” I want to tell her that she leaves a great first impression.
So I was just talking in the past week with a rather new friend about our top 5 albums. So I made my list after much internal debate, and when it came to adding Wire, one of my favorite bands of all time, I had such trouble deciding between their albums Pink Flag and Chairs Missing. I ended up going with the former, but Wire is not just musical nostalgia; the old lads are still making music, as heard in the song “23 Years Too Late” below from their November 2007 release Read & Burn 03. Many more free songs available from their website.
Hey, as I’ve admitted elsewhere on these pages, I was a child of the 80’s. When it came to the electronic music of the decade, I did have certain tastes. Big fan of Tears for Fears’ the Hurting, as well as A-ha (those Norwegians could write a fantastic pop song), the Thompson Twins (who weren’t really twins), the perverse Australian fun of Severed Heads, and even, gulp, for a brief while, the Communards. Despite their popularity at church dances, I was not so into Depeche Mode, and I sold Erasure back to the CD exchange store a week after buying it. After ending 2007 with the electronic pop of