Even Kevin – Sleep
Genre: Surf Rock, Indie Rock, Garage Rock
Even Kevin make pretty, sun-caressed indie-pop that makes the Beach Boys look like a prog-rock unit.
Brian Wilson is a genius! Of course, he is! However, for a long time, the music press framed his work as something belonging to a distant past, and his personality as nothing short of bizarre. It took the concentrated effort of critics like Nick Kent, and the continuous love of the public to get Wilson’s work to be reevaluated.
However, through all of this, one rumour persisted. Brian Wilson could have only created his summer odes to God as a consequence of some sort of mental handicap. Naturally, this left the many musicians who he had inspired feeling that, perhaps, their lives were a bit too ordinary to facilitate such a rush of creativity.
Even Kevin are here to disturb that myth. Sleep uses melodies and surf-rock arrangements gorgeously and, somehow, avoids cliches. Never does this feel like the work of disturbed characters. On the contrary, these sound like ordinary folks with a great, daily vocal routine. What a way to get reacquainted with vocal pop.
WoodsFolk – Shaman Of The Tundra
Genre: World Music (Other), Indie Folk, Psychedelic Rock
WoodsFolk makes quirky, cleverly designed world music that emphasizes their love of psychedelia and hides their Swedishness.
According to my thorough research, Sweden has one of the best education systems in the world. (Source: Google snippets). Why would anyone be surprised by that? Besides the weather and the lack of vitamin D, modern Sweden is viewed by many as one of the greatest societies to have ever existed.
Back in Eastern Europe if you want to learn about anything outside of folk music, you better have a good connection to the internet or move. Ain’t nobody got time for that. However, it would come as no surprise that Sweden would be home to some of the more interesting experiments in psychedelic and World music.
WoodsFolk’s Shaman Of The Tundra is a gorgeous tune entangled in the frostbite-daring sounds of Eastern Europe. It swings, it twists, it sounds like Robert Plant riding a reindeer, and it doesn’t sound Swedish at all. There’s a lot more to be made of modern music outside of what’s on our radios and are determined to uncover it.
