Lifelover - Konkurs

. . .

Lifelover straddle two types of music I don’t like much, depressive black metal and blackened indie rock (Neige-related projects et al.). I am neither depressive nor indie rock. But I love Lifelover. They make me feel like I’m listening to music, not genres.

They do this in two main ways. The first is their music. I wrote about Konkurs three years ago, and I still feel the same way. Their songs are small-scale anthems: lo-fi black metal as power pop. Dewdrops of piano adorn riffs that with more money could be massive (hello, Darkthrone). After years away from this record, I found that I still knew my way around it. It still has its hooks in me.

Lifelover’s other triumph is humor. I miss most of it, since their lyrics are mostly Swedish. But what I catch, I love: the band name, the occasional English lyric, the found sounds that randomly intrude. “Konvulsion” ends with what sounds like a traditional drinking song – and it makes perfect sense. It’s what might be on the telly on a beer-sodden, frozen, Swedish night. (Setting: Let the Right One In.) Such dark humor is very English – Morrissey, New Order, and so on. Sure, some guy is yowling like he just slammed a door on his finger, but he’s probably cracking jokes about it, too.

The result is unlikely: me liking a mopey record. It’s about both laughing and crying, and thus is the stuff of life. Prophecy Productions was right to reissue this gem. For self-deprecating humor, it’s ace. It’s not quite Mitch Hedberg (well, maybe in Swedish it is), but I like revisiting it half as much – which is a lot, a lot, a lot.

. . .

HEAR KONKURS

– Full album stream –

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=51433EEFC5947C33

. . .

BUY KONKURS

Amazon (MP3)
Amazon (CD)
Amazon (2CD)
Profound Lore (CD)
Abyss Records (CD)
Metalhit (MP3, $4.99)
Prophecy Productions (CD)
Prophecy Productions (2CD)

. . .