The CLUAS Archive: 1998 - 2011

23

A review of the album "Let Me Introduce My Friends" by I'm From Barcelona

Im From Barcelona Let Me Introduce My FriendsReview Snapshot: Let me introduce bubble indie-pop at its finest, complete with kazoos and treehouses. Though the lyrics of this album (originally released in 2006) may be quite cringeworthy at times, the Swedish happy vibes make this a vibrant album to dance around the bedroom to.

The Cluas Verdict? 7 out of 10

Full Review:
Remember the time when you would spend a full day eating tubes of Frosties, packets of Meanies, bags and bags of ten penny-sweets and Woppa Bars until your tongue turned red? Well, now imagine you had gathered up a group of your hyper sugar-happy mates and decided to make an album: the result would be very close to the colourful, huggy, snuggly, bubble-gum indiepop album "Let Me Introduce My Friends," by I'm From Barcelona.

Don't be fooled – this band is not in the least bit Spanish (and would sound silly being Spanish anyway, with member names like Frida Öhnell and Cornelia Norgren). Instead, their name is an ode to Fawlty Towers' Manuel, who claimed to be from Barcelona.

The 29-strong Swedish group mixes and mashes banjos with kazoos and trumpets lending an oomph to the general frolics provided by their debut album. It's not often that making an album with your friends works, but lead singer Emanuel Lundgren proves that a few happy-go-lucky songs about treehouses, chicken pox, and stamp-collecting can enthuse his Swedish mates so much that they go and do harmonies and fluffy 'oohs' and 'aahs.'

Why would you not want to spend your day swinging your hips and jumping about on a bed of lollipops and whipped cream, singing lyrics like "Feeling like a tape recorder / stuck between rewind and forward"; "I have built a treehouse / Nobody can see us / it's a you and me house"; and "Damn! Oversleeping again / Damn! I can't believe I did it once again"?

While the album can be too childish (aka Europop) at times, it does bring out wee fairy-like thoughts from within your regular serious Radio head, and brings you back to those sweets-filled days.

Niamh Madden


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