Suburban Kids with Biblical Names

With one of the more inspired band names in recent memory, Suburban Kids with Biblical Names are two nice Swedish boys (Johan Hedberg and Peter Gunnarson) who managed to catch quite a few ears with their first couple of EPs (which were unimaginatively called #1 and #2) and it looks like their debut album is likely to win them an even wider audience. The album, not surprisingly entitled #3, finds the duo continuing to sound like the lo-fi cousins of Jens Lekman and the Acid House Kings, but still managing to plough out a little indie pop furrow of their own. Their unpolished, but happy and upbeat tunes are packed with all manner of instruments, including recorders and banjos. The band do share Lekman’s dark sense of humour and Stephen Merrit-esque vocals, but lack his production skills, making #3 a noisy, funny treat. They definitely don’t take themselves too seriously, and that could prove to be a problem if they continue this far too precious playfulness because sometimes a little bit of twee-ness goes a long, long way. Fortunately they manage to stay just on the right side of the line this time and #3 is yet another great Swedish indie pop record.