Mary Onettes - Islands

Sweden's Labrador label is somewhat of a quality pop trademark, releasing distinctful indie top-40 music that you can judge for yourself from their handy zip file on www.labrador.se/sounds.php3 . 'Islands' is the Mary Onettes's second album and you'll find MP3 versions of first two, and great, tracks that webpage. 'Puzzles' and 'Dare' set the tone for 1980's guitar pop of a clear sound, rich with melody and string arrangements and it is here as if the Postcard label has been recently resurrected a couple of hundred miles further east. Like so many bands from Sweden, the Mary Onettes sing with great ease in English as if its their native tongue, getting the diction and phrasing absolutely right. The songs on 'Islands' do not have that instant ABBA appeal but the tongue-in-cheek jolliness portrayed throughout 'Islands' holds that promise. Only two or three tracks out of the ten wouldn't do as single releases. There's more than half a dozen well-crafted melodies here and my favourite is 'Symmetry' upon which its orchestration vaguely recalls the rockpop on ABBA's 'Summernight City'. As per usual, comparisons mean little. They're just tricks of the journo trade to draw the attention, but if you're into indie rock and you don't really loathe ABBA and Roxette you might like this pastiche of soft-rocking and melodic pop music.

Track Listing:-

1 Puzzles
2 Dare
3 Once I Was Pretty
4 Cry for Love
5 The Disappearance of My Youth
6 God Knows I Had Plans
7 Symmetry
8 Century
9 Whatever Saves Me
10 Bricks