The last temptation of...

It's been a busy year so far, I honestly haven't had the time to update my music blog. And even if I had had the time it would not have been that much new and exciting to write about. Until now, that is.

Two of the most anticipated albums of the year, Mr Beast by Mogwai and Silent Shout by The Knife, didn't quite live up to my expectations, both have their moments but not the overall strength to survive more than a few weeks on my player.

However, an album released near the end of March has completely swept me off my feet. I'm talking about the latest effort by the peculiar Danish-Norwegian band The Low Frequency in Stereo. Two years after the much praised Travelling Ants Who Got Eaten by Moskus the quartet is back with a new temptation on REC90: The Last Temptation of ... The Low Frequency In Stereo, Vol 1.

The Last Temptation of ... is a delicious album, starting where Travelling Ants left with a number of noisy pop-rock pearls, combining horns and organs with walls of guitars and an up-tempo, high energy beat. People will still be able to point fingers at musical references, such as Yo La Tengo, The Jesus and Mary Chain and not at least Stereolab. But the music is distinctively their own, they play in such a convincingly, natural manner, that it's obvious they've found their own spot in the great Universe of Sound.

The album opens with the up-tempo "Big City Blues", where the horns and organ follow a fast and furious comp, catching your attention from the first beat. It may sound a bit like Yo La Tengo but the darker undercurrent has a touch of Velvet Underground to it, and the result is just beautiful. On "21" the blazing guitars and bass hints strongly at The Jesus And Mary Chain, and with a catchy refrain this track probably has the biggest hit potential on the album.

Now I'm gone, really gone.
Hell, I was twenty-one.

Another very interesting song is "Axes", a song that could easily have fitted in among the best on any Stereolab-album, in all its glorious and atmospheric lo-fi. Hanne Eidsvaag Andersens voice floats in and out between the horns, what a delightful song.

The towering highlight of the album is the ten minutes long instrumental title track, featuring bongo drums and layers upon layers of guitars. It builds up slowly but surely, reaching a climax of massive sound seven minutes into the song. From there on and out it carves out a monument in base rock that will secure the band's position in Norwegian music for years to come.

This is not only a tempting album, it's a brilliantly executed classic!