The Concretes - On the Radio/The First Time (EMI)
2/5
By: Michael Lewin
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First time round, just after Rockfeedback had discovered this thing called music and decided the kids should hear about it, our editor described Swedish pop octet The Concretes' self-titled debut album as "both beauteously understated in its whimsy and massive."
And he was right! Of course he was (he was Toby L) : Victoria Bergman's vocals drifted, oh how they drifted! Cold, distant, unsure of how you felt but determined to keep going as strongly and from as far away as possible, a single, brilliantly bright star above the green hills lambs first see when they're born, the sounds of the height of spring all caught up in a narcotic maelstrom.
They didn't even sound bad in comparison to (bow your head) Mazzy Star.
Then they beavered away on a new record, even enlisting Bright Eyes' (and most of Saddle Creek's) production guru Mike Mogis to get the best out of them. Naturally, it went horribly wrong and 'In Colour' turned up like a crisp, fresh Oxbridge Eunuch on backing vocals at a Jesus and Mary Chain gig.
The major chords played on the piano are a rictus perma-smile on the face of a Teen TV presenter. Beyond that, the following phrases apply: neutered; banal; crass; inane; ultimately, too much of everything saccharine and pink and yellow.
If you like the idea of how The Concretes used to be, listen to Serena Maneesh. But please, don't buy this. Don't even buy the self-titled album, steal it instead - they don't deserve any more money until they remember why anyone liked them in the first place.
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