Lost in Translation?
First off, they have a very peculiar MySpace page.
From their MySpace: "Obviously we never wanted to see anyone we care about in this pop whorehouse begging you to enter their "space" and be their "friends"."
The account has zero friends and no pictures.
So, I went and listened to First Class Riot on a MySpace fan page and liked it. It's new wave Beach Boys with some weird Animal Collective yelps mixed in. Like mixing pretzels and Reese's.
However, the fan page also had some pictures, several of which moved the needles on my "uncool-o-meter."
Is this dancing tongue-in-cheek? Is there something lost in translation from Sweden to America? TTA's music is obviously cooler, but I can't help but wonder if they are the LFO or O-Town of Sweden...
And it doesn't stop there! The video for First Class Riot feels right at home alongside Wham!
None of these points are meant to dissuade you from enjoying their music. I'm just a little confused as to what exactly this band is.
posted by pete at 10:36 AM
8 Comments:
sorry but guy dancing like this and sigge and henning are regarded as very hot and sexy and cool and alles in sweden. is the american culture a bit to macho still, perhaps? just a thought.
also they have humour. :)
and charms! I´m not your biggest tta-fan but I think all this is pretty obvious.
how "popular" are they in sweden? top of the charts? what else is up there with them?
i suppose i could do more research...
so, i'm supposed to think the dancing is funny?
meh dancing like I do when drunk is not funny - it's downright shameful!
Besides, if you want to do a "funny" dance for a music video, do something a la OK GO...me thinks.
they are definately on the subversive side of pop...lots of reference to situationism (they sample Guy Debord in one song). but i think tongue in cheek is not quite right - they are very interested in purity of expression so what i might take from that is - 'hey, this is how we feel like dancing. it's not a routine or choreograph and it's not perfect but it is us'
i would poke around the label they run, Sincerely Yours, and perhaps you will get a better understanding of their philosophy.
I think their jackets and tops are deadly (in a good way).
You need to think less like an American and more like a European to get the video - it's a wicked and self-effacing sense of humour people from the New World sometimes don't really get. I suppose it's a cultural thing.
Maybe live in Europe for a while - people don't take themselves so seriously, you will see the world on a whole new level. And the fashion is much better, more cutting-edge.
Nice blog, I like. Blip!
Read some more about the label Sincerely Yours and you will get the concept! www.sincerelyyours.se
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