The Control Group
Released: 05.30.06
Some of my favorite pop music ever has come out of Sweden (Abba, Eggstone, and Dungen). I hold Swedish pop music to a higher standard than most. And even for a self-confessed Swedophile like myself, I have to give this album two opposable thumbs up – but for completely different reasons than I like most Swedish music. I was singing along with the opening track “Candy” before the end of the first listen. Vocal melody seems to be where the Swedes soar, but El Perro del Mar (translation “Sea Dog”) adds a refreshing twist with a production style that sounds more like quintessential American “wall of sound” than it does any of the obvious earlier Swedish influences. Press for El Perro Del Mar always points to her Motown and Spector girl group influence. It is there no doubt. But I find myself trying to imagine this album coming out in the early 60’s. The lyrical content is way too melodramatic, and even tragicomic, to have been on the radio in the 60’s – even too revisionist girl group and un-commercial to be on the radio in 2006 for that matter. Heartbreak and misery haven’t felt this good in a while. I would recommend for fans of Motown girl groups, Broadcast, and Joanna Newsom- and some Neil Young fans as well.
- Jeremy Midkiff
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