When You’re Still Frozen In Time arrived in the mail, I got really excited—the group’s label was responsible for releasing one of my favorite indiepop albums last year, an album by Fireflies. Stars In Coma feature heavy synths and glam-like bits, but not quite to the level of Sweden’s The Ark; where The Ark is more rock driven, Stars In Coma makes glam pop.

“People Put Up With A Lot Of Shit” has one of the catchier guitar riffs on You’re Still Frozen. The song also features backing female vocals, which appear sporadically throughout the album. “Life Without The Community” is lighter and more repetitive in instrumentation. Piano and percussion permeate the instrumentation perfectly. “Invisibility Trip” gives the album a slightly electronic feel.

I’m continually impressed with labels like Music Is My Girlfriend for finding small lovable pop groups and I will continue doing my part to help them build awareness, and only hope that y’all will take some time and have a listen because this stuff is truly great.

This review was originally published March 25, 2008 on the old version of FensePost.

Stars In Coma: People Put Up With A Lot Of Shits [mp3]

Stars In Coma: Invisibility Trick [mp3]

Music Is My Girlfriend [CD, 2008]

01. This Picture
02. Give Up
03. People PutUp With A Lot of Shit
04. Life Without The Community
05. Moonport Sickness
06. Invisibility Trick
07. If I Could Describe
08. I Wish Someone Would Dance With Me
09. I Saw My Heart Passing By
10. Bullet-Proof
11. Transformation
12. Radio
13. My Sunshine Years

Once again, Fireflies has given us a brief, three-song EP through the Music Is My Girlfriend label. MIMG is not generally an mp3 label, but it is in the case of the two EPs by Fireflies. Butterscotch features three tasteful twee-pop songs in the vein of Math And Physics Club.

Looking back at Fireflies’ previous work, Butterscotch shows a definite progression for Lisle, the sole member and thus absolute mastermind of the band. The songs are fuller and filled with more instruments. The sound is greater, though it remains light and ingrained in bedroom pop.

The EP’s theme also fits the music of Fireflies – it’s based around winter and snow. It’s fitting; Fireflies is great pea-coat and scarf music, excellent pop music to listen to through iPod headphones while walking around on an overly chilly day, ideally shortly after the snow has fallen, preferably first thing in the morning when the air remains fresh.

I’ve included the title track below. It’s a great treat of a tune, but nipping at its heels are the equally beautiful pop-filled “Winter” and the masterful instrumental “Sledding” that’s (if you stretch your imagination a little bit) reminiscent of early Belle & Sebastian. You can download Butterscotch in its entirety and entirely free from Music Is My Girlfriend.

Fireflies: Butterscotch [mp3]

Music Is My Girlfriend [Digital EP, 2009]

1. Butterscotch
2. Winter
3. Sledding

Oh yes, now Celestial has several traits of the typical Swedish pop band. There’s the lovely indie pop guitar sound that shows The Smiths as a key influence. There’s the bouncy, yet emotive vocals—here female fronted. (That woman is Malin Dahlberg, perhaps more well known for her work in Douglas Music and Laurel Music.) And, it sounds like Swedish pop, a sub genre that sometimes can be fairly homogeneous.

Crystal Heights is Celestial’s latest endeavor, here as a split release between labels Music Is My Girlfriend and Lavender Recordings. There’s not really too much to delve into—as I said, Swedish pop sometimes has the ability to sound like the rest of Swedish pop. Celestial, however, is lo-fi compared to something you’d find on, say, a Labrador Records.

The smooth echoes in guitar and vocal parts, though, can be related to artists like Acid House Kings or, even moreso, The Penny Century (with similarities both in song structure and lead vocalist). Songs like “Warm Against The Cold” are prime examples of these commonalities.

Hit the fourth song and you’re in for a surprise—“Love Always Comes To Those Who Waits” [sic] switches vocalist gender to male. But they’re right back to the female vocalist on the next song, the title track. Dahlberg’s vocals are a key strength in Celestial’s music—they meld wonderfully with the group’s dreamy nature.

As a pop album, Crystal Heights is solid. It’s what to expect from a Swedish pop artist dabbling in a familiar twee-like sound—starry-eyed vocals and jangle-y guitars. Further influences, not surprisingly, are The Field Mice and Sarah Records, and you can hear it throughout Crystal Heights.

Celestial and their second album in a snapshot? Let’s see… It’s lovable. It’s bouncy. It’s fun. What more could you ask for?

Celestial: Crystal Heights [mp3]

Music Is My Girlfriend / Lavender Recordings [CD, 2008]

1. Preston Park
2. Warm Against The Cold
3. Forever Whispers Secrets To Me
4. Love Always Comes To Those Who Waits
5. Crystal Heights
6. How Does It Feel?
7. Lonely Boulevard
8. Try To Understand
9. Hope, You Know