Griff says; Turn off your television and walk this way

There's something about Swedish bands that seems to appeal to me. I've been having a think about it and I've decided that it's because Sweden is at a similar latitude to Scotland. Now you may be wondering why that matters, so I'll elaborate. In the Summer in these Northern latitudes we have long, bright nights where darkness hardly falls. These are the days where we play on the beaches, swim in the lochs, hike in the mountains and drink cold beers in the park with our friends. Sometimes, when the weather is good, it feels like the summer will never end and we spend weeks falling in and out of love to a soundtrack of bright and energetic pop. In my opinion, that's the milieu that produces twee-pop and it explains why Sweden and Scotland are the world centres of that genre. However, there's also a downside. In the winter, we hardly see the sun and the midwinter can bring several weeks of night. Artists exposed to that sort of climate will always have a touch of melancholy about them; a brooding and reflective shadow that stalks the sunshine of their music.
Now you may think all of the above is rot but I honestly believe that there is something of the truth in it and it explains why I feel such an affinity with bands like Mellow Dramatic Avenue and tonight's offering, the Swedish trio Turn off your television. Hailing from Malmö, the band line-up is;

Vocals, guitar and other stuff: Jon Rinneby
Bass: Stellan Lofberg
Drums and vocals: Erik Willman

They released their eponymous debut album in October of last year to glowing reviews, most of which compare them favourably to American indie-rock band Sparklehorse. The comparisons are fairly obvious as Turn off your television do proffer a similar mellow, country-tinged, post-rock fare. The other band that they are reminiscent of, to these ears, is Grandaddy. I think those comparisons will give you a fair idea of the Turn off your television sound. However, if you need further convincing, I've embedded their latest single, Long Walk, below:

Pretty good, right? The single is available as a free digital download from their bandcamp page, as are their previous singles and the aforementioned album. So, what are you waiting for? Why not take a walk over and see for yourself?

Griff
xx