What with its' superb record shops, neatly-laid out seafront, public ice skating rinks and the fact no-one even thinks to ask you for your passport when you hop across the Oresund Bridge from Copenhagen, there's no denying Malmo is a cool town.
And with THE RADIO DEPT., the city's got a cool band to accompany its' reputation at last. Yes, yes, I know Swedish pop's been fighting a rearguard action against its' Eurovision reputation and the seemingly terminal body blows dealt it by Roxette in recent years (thanks to the likes of The Hives and Wannadies) but The Radio Dept. are surely one of the country's best-ever bets.
Over the past twelve months or so, W&H have been surprised to praise the activities of a new breed of shoegaze-y outfits such as The Meeting Places and Highspire, but before now this seemed only a Stateside obsession. The Radio Dept., though, are proof positive that the quiet craze for floppy fringes, racks of FX pedals and a penchant for staring out yer Converse has permeated into Scandinavia.
Importantly, though, The Radio Dept (like the aforementioned US bands) do bring their own atmosphere to bear and thus most of their debut UK release, the "Why Won't You Talk About It?" EP is a success on its own terms.
Yes, the title track does harbour a definite early Mary Chain bent, with the striking melodies fighting their way through the fug the way the likes of "Never Understand" used to do, yet The Radio Dept's songs are far more warm and romantic, and the (actually quite primitive) production still retains a curious power with the clarity never usurped by the billowing guitar squalls.
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"Liebling", pulls off a similar trick, coming off as addictive soft-focus indie pop that welcomes descending melodies every bit a much as disruptive white noise, while on the magnificently-titled "I Don't Need Love, I've Got My Band", they call up distant, buzz pop from another star that's disciplined and familiar, but not horribly derivative.
Admittedly, by the final track, "We Would Fall Against The Tide", the initial admiration is beginning to fade a tad and the weedy drum machine starts to grate, but the chordal keyboard line establishing itself here is an advance and Johan Duncanson's heavily compressed vocals are eerily pleasant, so they get away with it for now anyway.
So yeah, while it's hard to believe we're (again) praising a band who recall the likes of early Mary Chain or (Gawd' elp us) Slowdive in places, The Radio Dept. are emitting classy, old skool indie pop across the airwaves and it all sounds scarily NOW. What the hell is going on?
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