We're making progress through a list of albums we missed in the latter parts of 2018, and we've featured some slightly leftfield releases so far, so we'll take it slightly in the direction of indie mainstream with a few words on an album by Swedish band 'Les Big Byrd' which was released in October.
'Les Big Byrd' have been around for years, in fact their debut album 'They Worshipped Cats' was released before we existed, and the new(ish) release 'Iran Iraq IKEA' is simply brimming full of confidence, a band who seem very at home with their krautrock style.
There are a fair few highlights, from the moment they launch into 'Geräusche' there is a sense of authority, with a slick mix of synths and beats, and they hit the mark for me with the excellent 'A Little More Numb', which still has that dreamy rhythmic feel but adds a stylish melodic vocal line. The instrumental 'Pink Freud' is such a clever track with a subtle cello contribution, but my favourite track is without question 'I F**ked' Up When I Was A Child', which really opens with an appealing pop chorus, vocal harmonies and a gradual build of instrumentation and intensity. 'Eon' rattles along at pace, whilst the final track is the epic 'Mannen Utanför' which builds from nothing and has a thoughtful reflective feel to conclude the album.
Anyway they've recently recorded a version of 'A Little More Numb' at our favourite 'Live at Tapetown' sessions, which you can watch here:
Another album definitely worth checking out from the latter parts of 2018, 'Les Big Byrd' have delivered a really assured solid album in 'Iraq Iran IKEA', and hopefully we won't have to wait quite as long before they release another long play.
We've featured so many great tracks 'Live at Tapetown', and one of our ambitions for the next couple of years is to see whether they'll let us come and watch one recorded live.... anyway for more details check them out at: