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David and the Citizens
- Avg user rating:
Out of 18 votes - Similar Artists: Belle & Sebastian, Bright Eyes, Asobi Seksu, Faunts
Out of 18 votes
- Genre: Alternative/Punk » Indie Rock
Editor's review
Until now, if you wanted New Pornographers-style power pop fronted by Conor Oberst, you were talking about a DIY project on a proper sort of deck. With the Citizens' new self-titled EP coming out on Friendly Fire (the first North American release from David Fridlund's Swedish indie-jangle group), the mixboard magic is no longer needed.
Biography
David & the Citizens? songs speak earnestly of the great subjects in life - love, loss, and despair - through buoyant melodies & beautifully crafted pop songs. The band?s dramatic live show displays their more upbeat, ?party? side, but on record their music comes across as compassionate, thoughtful, and often heartrendingly bittersweet. They have received critical acclaim from various fronts: the track "Song Against Life" from their debut full length LP "For All Happy Endings" had a prolonged stint at #1 in the MTV Up North chart; they received a nomination for a Swedish Grammy (Best Pop Group) in 2004; they?ve performed at numerous major European indie rock festivals; their music has been featured in films including the Swedish ?Om Sara? (2005); and P3, one of Sweden?s largest television stations, produced a documentary on the band that has been aired repeatedly throughout Sweden and Denmark.
Singer/songwriter David Fridlund formed David & the Citizens in 1999, after he moved from Stockholm to Malm?, taking his four-track with him. By 2000, the band included Conny Fridh on bass, Alexander Madsen on electric guitar, Mikael Carlsson on drums, and Magnus Bjerkert on trumpet. Aside from Fridlund?s solo album ?Amaterasu? (released by Hidden Agenda in 2005), none of the band?s music has ever been released in North America in any form, until now. New York-based label Friendly Fire Recordings (Asobi Seksu, Faunts) is releasing a six-song, self-titled EP featuring some of the best songs from the band?s history, including several that are difficult to find even in Sweden. Berkeley- and LA-based artists Brendan Monroe and Xanthe Hohalek have created the EP?s beautiful artwork, and Mattias Alkberg (from the Bear Quartet, who themselves have a dozen full-length albums under the belt) guests on the fiercely propulsive song ?Big Chill.?
Friendly Fire will be releasing the full-length album ?Until the Sadness is Gone? later in 2006, but first it?s time for America to catch up with one of Sweden?s musical darlings and get hip to their sparkling back catalogue. Do you like Belle & Sebastian minus the twee? Bright Eyes minus the histrionics? The Decemberists minus the sea shanties? Add that up, then stir in a huge dose of Scandinavian popsong brilliance, and you have David & the Citizens. You?re in for a treat.
