The Electric Pop Group
Sunrise EP
Matinee
Matinee seems to have an endless cache of Euro twee pop EPs at their disposal these days. The Electric Pop Group hail from my beloved Sweden and this disc offers the same chiming guitars and glistening electronic swells that have served the country’s pop scene so well this decade. Singer/songwriter Erik Aamot’s vocals are shot through with alternating layers of icy and warm-toned reverb which give his tales of stultifying routine and nostalgia (“This is the Town”) and excitement for seasonal change (“Summer’s Day”) the same indistinct mixture of emotions. The latter feels like a wonderfully amped-down version of Slowdive, with a clear guitar lilt swapped for the thunderous fuzz of shoegaze. In the hard-wrought transition between winter and spring this year in the Midwest, this track in particular – and the EP in general – is one to latch onto for that extra bit of reassurance that change is indeed in the air.
Matinee Recordings: http://www.indiepages.com/matinee
