Featuring what may be the best album cover ever, Sweden's Les Big Byrd are a mysterious prospect and the only indication of where we may be heading is that they have a slight connection to the mighty GOAT. Are we in for some manic ya yah's and masked dancers then? Well, not quite but take a quick Google search and look at some of the images, this band are cool, seriously cool!
Thankfully that image is transferred to the rather excellent music contained in this debut album They Worshipped Cats and you are going to be hard-pressed to find an album that makes you want to dance so much this year, or maybe ever gain. This is a full on frontal assault on your inhibitions and makes you want to wave your hands in the air like a lunatic. There really is no escape, Les Big Byrd seem to have tapped into some primal instinct that makes you move.
So how do they do this? Well, over the course of nine songs they thrust you straight into some dayglo world of strobe lights and hallucinogenic lighting and that's just from the prominent organ playing throughout. Add to this the shuddering rhythm section and glossy synths and you are in what would amount to pop heaven if it wasn't so damn dirty and lo-fi. It's a sound which harks back to trance, 80's electronica and as we're in Sweden, the pop sensibility of ABBA. Not that these songs are pop in any way, it's more of a feeling.
'Indus Waves' is a good example of a Les Big Byrd song which is all brash instrumentation melded in a way to make it not brash. It's bouncy and invigorating and sets it's stall out for the rest of the album. From here on in you are sucked into their world and you will not want to leave.
There's subtle hints of darkness here too. The phenomenal title track is a disturbing come down after the glorious opening two songs. It's echoing keyboard getting further and further lost within the extreme synth noises that end up washing all melodic sensibility out of the song. Like being bleached but in a nice way, it's emotional and scary but there is a light at the end.
'Vi Borde Prata Men Dat Ar For Sent' channels Lowlife period New Order into a wonderful little electronic anthem that sounds timeless and also a little jarring after the previous song. It's almost as if a light has arrived and shown the way forward and we are only four songs into the album. By then end as the backing vocals soar you will have a big stupid grin on your face and wonder why this band haven't existed before.
The ethereal 'Just One Time' dips it's toes into dream pop territory before the throbbing bass of 'White Week' ups the ante with it's carnivalesque appeal. This is then matched by the paisley indie of 'War In The Street' which sounds like it has been dripped in LSD and dropped right into Sgt Pepper land. An almost marching beat plays out against a 60's pastiche and completely out does any other band who have tried to match that classic sound. It's just brilliant, no other words can describe it.
There's more tricks up their sleeve too as the bouncy '1,2,3,4,Morte' hits a winning streak as it's kaleidoscopic synth riff offers a last bit of madness before the straight laced 'Back To Bagarmossen' brings you right back down as they turn their hand to some deft indie rock. It's a bit of a come down after what has gone before but serves it's purpose in that it levels your mind before you dip right back into this prime bucket of lysergy.
There really isn't any other band quite like Les Big Byrd. Both a pastiche and completely original, they seem to have hit upon a sound which is truly fascinating. Heavily psychedelic but pure pop as well, They Worshipped Cats is one hell of a statement. It will be interesting to see where this excellent band go next.
