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Those Dancing Days - In Our Space Hero Suits (Wichita)
UK release date: 6 October 2008
3-5 stars
Those Dancing Days - In Our Space Hero Suits

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track listing

1. Knights In Mountain Fox Jackets
2. Falling In Fall
3. I Know Where You Live
4. Run Run
5. Hitten
6. Actionman
7. Shuffle
8. Home Sweet Home
9. Duet Under Waters
10. Kids
11. Those Dancing Days
12. Spaceherosuits
Fresh out of Stockholm, the latest indie pop sensations from Sweden are here to win over your hearts and brighten your days. Lower those eyebrows and banish all prejudices at the door, this album is worth more than just a cursory listen.

Linnea Jünsson, Lisa Pyk, Rebecka Rolfart, Mimmi Evrell and Cissi Efraimsson, the five girls who comprise Those Dancing Days, had barely left school before they began to garner lots of hype in their native Sweden. Lately they have crossed over to mainland Europe and the UK and begun wowing many impressionable young and slightly older men with their punchy punk-lite pop and distinctly perky live shows.

Those dependable folk at Wichita Recordings have snapped up UK distribution rights for this impressive debut bow, although I could have done without the coy indieisms of the title. For a bunch of Swedish teenagers, Those Dancing Days certainly know their pop history, naming themselves after a track by hoary old rockers Led Zeppelin and basing their sound on a healthy fusion of new wave and pop punk acts such as Blondie, Bow Wow Wow and The Go-Go's.

Clocking in at twelve tracks long, In Our Space Hero Suits is a curiously old-fashioned beast that is tailor made for being listened to on vinyl. Each 'side' starts off slowly before hitting its stride and punching through to the end of the groove. Notably, two of these songs were originally included on the group's debut five-track EP from last year.

The curious little organ intro that opens the album segues into the Strokes-like Falling In Fall, all jittery drums and indie pop attitude that passes little muster. The album revs up a gear on the following I Know Where You Live, with Jünsson's soulful, husky voice driving home the group's cute Northern Soul influences.

The singles Run Run and Hitten (delightfully, the latter translates as 'The Hit' in English) fizz by with layers of guitars and keyboards making up for the juvenile subject matter of the lyrics. Actionman tries to maintain the pace but falls short with a predictable melody and lacklustre vocal.

The 'second side' of the album is more cohesive, with Home Sweet Home and the frankly terrific Those Dancing Days offering further evidence of the quintet's ability to knock out a decent tune. The latter is awash with Pyk's trademark Hammond Organ fills, lending the song a distinctly nostalgic feel.

In between, Duet Under Waters slows the pace down a notch while Kids bounces by on a jangly pop melody distantly related to Kim Wilde's Kids In America (but none the worse for it). The closing Space Heroes Suits is a suitably lifting finale to an album that rarely misses a beat.

While Those Dancing Days may struggle to last in the easy come, easy go world of indie pop, let alone stand out amidst the current glut of Swedish imports cluttering our shelves, In Our Space Hero Suits proves they deserve their five minutes of fame.

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