In Stockholm, there is a record store called Pet Sounds which is listed on numerous “best record shops in the world” lists. It was at this shop that I asked the man working there for something distinctly Swedish. He told me of a Stockholm based punk band called Ebba Grön who broke up and became a post punk band called Imperiet, and suggested this record, translated as Blue Heaven Blues. I took him at his word, and did not return void. Were their lyrics in English, it’s doubtless that Imperiet would have been canonized among New Order, Psychedelic Furs, Duran Duran, and other post punk/new wave patron saints.
Month: July 2014
Record #261: ABBA – Super Trouper (1980)
Sorry for the lack of updates: my wife and I were in Sweden visiting family. Luckily, Sweden isn’t as saccharine sweet as their primary musical export. But can anyone real hate ABBA? All the reasons to hate them—the melodramatic cheesiness of their delivery, the Swedish simplicity of their songcraft, the squareness of the whole thing—are the same reasons they are adored so widely. So whatever. Thanks, Sweden, for the discocheese.