UP AGAINST THE LEGENDS

Last week I received a copy of The Legends' latest album, Up Against The Legends.

The Legends are from Sweden and fronted by Johan Angergard, perviously of Acid House Kings. I was really skeptical about the band at first, and with reason: they're signed to Lakeshore, a kind of weird label; the promo quotes are atrociously adoring; and come on, the band is from Sweden! How many more Swedish bands can we take?

Thankfully, my skepticism was erased when I listened to the record. The Legends write simple, yet intricately put-together, pop songs, filtered through the production and sound of The Jesus & Mary Chain. Think The Raveonettes meet The Concretes. The result is a really solid record, full of catchy, memorable tracks, and a sound to rival the bands they are influenced by.

Make sure to download the first (and one of my favorites) track on the album, the single "Call It Ours". Video links are here.

You can read the glowing All Music Guide review here. The reviewer says, "So many bands have taken up the noise pop mantle in the early 2000s and failed to deliver, yet the Legends deliver and, as daring as it may be to say, improve upon the work of their forbears. Indie pop in 2004 doesn't get any better than this." Pretty lofty, but somewhat accurate nonetheless.

[Two posts in a day is outside my recent routine, I know, but I've got a lot of things I've been sitting on that I'm going to try and get posted this week.]