Artist: Acid House Kings
Album: Music Sounds Better With You
When I first heard of the Acid House Kings, and the name of their Stardust-biting latest album, "Music Sounds Better With You," I expected some hard-hitting dance music, but the Swedish band couldn't be farther from it. The Kings made upbeat Twee Pop of the highest order.
The band formed in 1991 in Stockholm, Sweden. Upon the release of their debut album "Pop, Look, and Listen" in 1992, the band decided they wanted to make an album every five years so they could have a trilogy of albums by 2002, which they accomplished. "Music Sounds Better With You" is the bands fifth album, which they began in the summer of 2007 for release in 2008, only to have it pushed back until now.
Immediately upon hearing the Acid House Kings, I was reminded of the band I'm From Barcelona, also from Sweden with a similar sound. I loved their debut album, was a bit disappointed in their second, and am just getting into their fourth and most recent album, "Forever Today." To me, "Music Sounds Better With You" is the I'm From Barcelona follow up I was waiting for but didn't get from them. Haha.
Immediately from the start of album opener and first single "Are We Lovers or Are We Friends?" you get the bands vibe, jangl-y guitar, goofy woodwinds, hand claps and sun! sun! sun! Honestly, it's easy to poke a little fun at music like this, but the band won me over. I really liked the 60's girl group-biting "Windshield" that's built for sunny drives with the top down. It merges a bunch of styles and familiar touches and yet remains its own thing. The rest of "Music" is more of the same in the best way. They're a bit tongue-in-cheek at times, as their song titles suggest, such as "(I'm In) A Chorus Line," "I Just Called to Say Jag Alskar Dig" and the Smiths nod, "Heaven Knows I Miss Him Now."
I'm enjoying this band, check them out.
Enjoy.
Windshield
Are We Lovers or Are We Friends?
Would You Say Stop?
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