In case you’ve been in a coma for the past five years, Sweden rocks. As does the entire northern part of Europe, for that matter. Take a glance at a blog of any stripe and they’ll be foaming at the mouth at some band, singer, DJ or anything vaguely Scandinavian, Finnish, Swedish, or anything else. You’ve got the ubiquitous Peter Bjorn And John, ready-made pop star Lykke Li, with an entire supporting cast of bands who aren’t very hyped but still pop like it’s 1967. So, welcome the latest lot to step up to the plate, girl pop merchants Those Dancing Days. With a much hyped run of EP’s, their debut album has to contend with Miss Li for the most insanely catchy pop record in recent memory.

Apparently, the slightly bizarre title of their debut stems from the feeling they get playing in a band, and reinforced by the muscular punch of opener Falling In Fall, tumbling drums and trebly guitars giving way to solid gold hooks, played with an energy way above what you’d credit five Swedish teenagers. The pace doesn’t really let up, with the recent single Run Run providing a most delightful fidget-punk verse which explodes into a huge chorus. The song-writing is also on the right side of classic pop, with Hitten (that’s Swedish for ‘The Hit’, approaching Gallagher levels of bravado) and Actionman mining the same classic vein as The Ronettes, or The Crystals or more recently, Belle and Sebastian. While not being so gloriously twee as the latter, the pace is commendable – there isn’t a ballad of which to speak, despite the oft-lovelorn lyrical content, each track being propelled by the scratchy guitars and squeaky organs of Rebecka Rolfart and Lisa Pyk Wirstromt trying to fight off a insistent rhythm section, the mix being none more infectious than on their theme song, Those Dancing Days, with plenty of bleeps and thrills.

The song-writing is also unique, as interviews on YouTube show the girls’ grasp of the Queens English is a little lacklustre. So the chorus of Run Run is an absolute marvel, singer Linnea Johnson crooning "the sky’s way bigger than I ever thought it could be," like she’s just looked up for the first time in her life. With the punky thrash of all the songs, the lyrical focus of having fun ("breaking flowers in someone’s garden, but I don’t care") is perfectly matched. On the other hand, Home Sweet Home commands a similarly epic backing for a lyric about just sitting around the house. But, the abstractions of Duet Under Waters and Kids get lost, dragging the second half of the record down. However, a quick spin of Actionman or I Know Where You Live quickly reminds you that their song-writing remains at its best when it’s simple and yearning. The only duffer is Shuffle, which is either the biggest musical coincidence ever or just lazily composed out of Beatles, Dylan and Strokes song titles – the chorus starts off "Tomorrow never knows, what goes on……" (rolls eyes).

It’s only a small quarrel with an otherwise extremely likeable record. It’s not going to change your life, wrap you up in deep thought or ignite a revolution. It’s just a lovely, bouncy little pop album with a heart about as big as the singer's hairdo. Maybe not as technically brilliant as Lykke Li, but packed with enough chutzpah to stand its own ground.

Release date: 13/10/08
Artist website: www.myspace.com/thosedancingdays
Label: Wichita

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