And every now and then you unearth a musical gem…
Indie pop bands from Sweden tend to be of quite a high standard - I'm thinking of the glorious Springfactory as an example - but The Hartmans are just great. It is like they have taken all the best bits from the heyday of pop music and rocked the boat with it. None of the wimpy guitars that you might expect of the genre, every song is full power all the way. In these days of pretension and self importance in popular music, they are just plain refreshing. Despite having the sound quality that barely betters that of a Clash bootleg, every song provokes a case of the singing along. Add in a bucket load of harmonies that sound like they have been imported from California and meld them with some proper rock star guitar and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to do it.
This album is actually a compilation of three EPs by the band but it never sounds disjointed. Not once. That's maintaining standards for you.
One little silver disc but one big swaggering beastie of an album and that's a fact! Time to search out more music by The Hartmans…
Aailable from Series Two Records.