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Smoke In The Desert, Eating The Sand, Hide In The Grass / Party BRILLE RECORDS
Continuing to bash out three minute nuggets of noisy lo-fi indie pop, Envelopes are a Swedish based three piece whose music is gloriously reminiscent of The Fall, Pavement and the Archers Of Loaf.
We’re talking noisy guitar abuse, clattering drums and heartfelt vocals here; latest single, SMOKE IN THE DESERT, EATING THE SAND, HIDE IN THE GRASS, a song that despite its preposterously long winded title is a glorious blast of harmonic indie rock that’s all short sharp riffs and barked out vocal melodies. Just think Talking Heads getting roughed up by the Arcade Fire and you’ll be dangerously close to figuring out just where the Envelopes are coming from with this one. On flipside, PARTY, the band crank out another effortlessly wonderful slice of choppy lo-fi pop, the cheeky reference to Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse Of The Heart a particularly brilliant moment.
Short, sharp and superb; SMOKE IN THE DESERT, EATING THE SAND, HIDE IN THE GRASS finds Envelopes in typically brilliant form, another single to charm and delight in equal measure.
BIOGRAPHY
Previously known as The Nicotines, Henrik (vocals, guitar,keyboard), Audrey (guitars,vocals), Martin (bass) and Fredrik (guitar) have come a long way in the last three years. Living in Stockholm, Malmo and Paris the band fought geography and won, spending enough time together to record their truly special debut album DEMON.
Recording all the songs in their short periods together at Henrik's Mum's holiday house in Sweden, the band quickly found their music on Swedish radio with one DJ describing it as 'like a trip on a twisted bicycle'. They played their first gig at a Musclo Records night in Paris in October of 2002 (Musclo Records later featured an early incarnation of future single SISTER IN LOVE on their Hits Up To You compilation in June 2003.
However things really started to happen when they released their first record - the I DON'T LIKE IT EP on Rex Records in August 2004. It was at this point that plans for DEMON took shape with Envelopes signing to a new label, Brille, set up by former A&R man Leo Silverman, plundering their cache of cool demos and, with the help of producer Ian Grimble, shaping a rough diamond of a debut album that sounds like all your favourite bands while also sounding like none of them at all. DEMON was released in August
2005 and is fast becoming a word-of-mouth hit creating a tangible buzz online and picking up excited, devoted and obsessive fans all over.
Meanwhile, the band have been busy working on their first proper album (Demon means demos in Swedish) holed up on an isolated farm in a rural outpost of North Yorkshire, finally getting the chance to rehearse and play live like a proper band; four Swedes and a Parisian with nothing but a collection of classic guitars for company. Oh and cows, bees, sheep, horses, pigs and Alan the farmer...
And they've been playing all over the country winning supporters as they go
- they recently toured with Clor (who are huge fans) and We Are Scientists.
LINE UP
Henrik>vocals/guitar/keyboards
Audrey>guitar/vocals
Martin>bass
Fredrik>guitar
Filip>drums
DISCOGRAPHY
I DON'T LIKE IT EP (2004>Rex Records)
DEMON (2005>Brille)
SISTER IN LOVE (2005>Brille)
Sister In Love
The Nicotines
It Is The Law (Acoustic Version)
Sister In Love (Sam E Dangerr (Test Icicles) Remix) Sister In Love (Clor Remix)
PINK CHRISTMAS (2005>Brille Records)
Pink Christmas
SMOKE IN THE DESERT, EATING THE SAND, HIDE IN THE GRASS (Brille>2007) Smoke In The Desert, Eating The Sand, Hide In The Grass Party
LINKS
Envelopes>www.envelopes.se
FURTHER LISTENING
The Vaselines>Dum Dum (1990>53rd & 3rd)
Bis>The New Transistor Heroes (1997>Chemikal Underground)
Pavement>Slanted And Enchanted (1992>Big Cat)
Review date: April 2007 |
