Oslo’s answer to The La’s offer up what appears to be a double A-side single of contrast as they get ready for their own summer holidays, and both I presume from their debut album which is due out on Keepsecretrecords in August/September.
When we previously reviewed them (‘Egon’) I said that they claim their roots are in Britpop although they have “since ventured deeper and deeper into the indie rock songbook.”
‘The Happy Murdered’ unfolds slowly to a slow beat. I said last time out that “the unusually voiced singer (Andreas Lindvåg) could make a living as an impersonator as he successfully mimicked Dylan, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison” and all in one song. This time out it’s more like the northern Englishurban drawl of Liam Gallagher of Oasis, albeit an octave or two higher, but without quite the panache of Noel’s guitar. The problem is, I can’t tell what Andreas is singing about but then again I could never tell with the Burnage boy either.
And then, low and behold, the vocals step back for an almighty instrumental outro that seems to last forever (over half of the five and a half minutes) complete with the jangliest guitar and reverb you can imagine, which I’m sure Noel himself would be proud of. It’s close to anthemic.
‘About the Holidays’ is a different kettle of fish; much heavier and unstructured in the guitar. Then at around the 1:15 mark Andreas comes in suddenly with yet another impersonation, this time of the bass-baritone Brad Roberts of Crash Test Dummies, which then suddenly morphs into a pitch verging on falsetto and then back again, and so it goes on. Is there anything this guy can’t do?
This one isn’t as tuneful by any means but it will certainly be a live ‘head banger.’ The Slow Painters are a band of the kind I’d expect to see (and would happily go out of my way to watch) at the club night shows that follow each day’s festival performances at Øyafestivalen in Oslo. Unfortunately there ain’t one this year but perhaps they will make By: Larm next year?
The release date is today July 17th. Visit them on Facebook,