The Charade - Keeping Up Appearances
January 24, 2009 – 9:42 am
The Charade are the veterans of the Swedish indie pop scene with members being around in one guise or another (Happydeadmen, Red Sleeping Beauty, The Shermans) for over twenty years now. On their third album Keeping Up Appearances they stick with the classic indie pop template that has served them so well over the course of their two previous albums. Boy/girl vocals, handclaps, melodic songs with lyrics full of melancholy it’s a tried and tested formula so, as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Unlike on previous albums The Best Is Yet To Come or A Real Life Drama there isn’t a track that stands out right away or one that the rest of the album is built around. The songs are pretty consistent in their approach being full of catchy harmonies, bouncing around at will. If there is any variation to the theme it’s when the likes of What’s A Normal Person? or Stockholm April 2007 stray into the 1960’s territory that Saint Etienne so often frequent. It’s a sound that fits nicely with the album’s lovely retro sleeve.
Sometimes Keeping Up Appearances sounds a little too polished or a little too safe but that said it’s an enjoyable indie pop album worthy of your ears and possibly your dancing shoes.
Keeping Up Appearances is out now on Skipping Stones Records.
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Tags: Skipping Stones, Sweden, The Charade
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