Bear Quartet - Selected

Edward Jung, formerly of Emma’s House Recordings, has formed a new label called Heliotone Records and is carrying on sticking to his guns by releasing records on vinyl only. This release on glorious 8” consists of 4 tracks by the long-serving Swedish group, the Bear Quartet, who made a short visit to Britain in 1992 , and who have never returned. 3 of these tracks come from old albums, of which there are now 12, the earliest of which came out in 1989. ‘Suits on for Sandi’ comes from 93’s ‘Cosy Den’ and reminds me of Mojave 3 with its slow country-flavoured delivery, jangly guitar lines and laid back cool. ‘Bad on the Halo’ hails from 97’s ‘Moby Dick’ and is reminiscent of the Smith’s ‘Please, Please, Please, Let me Get What I Want’, but also throws in some beautiful piano work and has a slight Irish feel to it. ‘Load It’, which comes from 2001’s ‘’Gay Icon’ starts off with a folk edge, but gradually becomes louder and more quirky. ‘All Your Life’, the only new song here, and which appears also on their latest record ‘Angry Brigade’, is jangly and sounds like something the Strokes might do, but has a bigger sense of fun and more of a weird experimental edge to explore.