Birds sometimes dance

I’ve been looking forward  to this. I loved their EP, a great debut, and I’ve only heard good word about their liveshows, so this seems very promising. If they follow the chain of other good norwegian debuts this and last year, this is probably going to be a great album, but were my expectations to high?

You know, when the three first songs of a record kicks ass, while the rest of the album is weaker. Well, it’s often like that, but not the case on Ancient Asobi / In Arcadia. It starts great with “Narcoleptic Highway,” “Skull & Bones” and “Jor-El,” songs that have been out for a while, and after that, the greatness continues.

Meet Sjur Lyseid, Oslo’s very own musical alchemist. That is, everything he touches seems to turn into gold. He’s produced about half of the good music that’s come out of this city the last few years and he’s contributed quite a bit in front of the mic as well as behind the levers. This time, the magic is created with his own band Monzano.

I remember a Facebook group named something like “Since when did Indie Rock refer to pussies afraid of amps?” Here’s a band that should crush such beliefs. Oliver Ackerman and his band aren’t exactly afraid of amps. Just like their first album, this one is full of noise, distortion and fuzz on every level. Even the drums are distorted.

Sometimes you read about a hyped band, and you’re instantly sceptical. You think they aren’t really that good at all. Then, when you’ve taken some time to actually listen to them, you realize you were all wrong to judge them, and that’s the story with  me and The Megaphonic Thrift.