Reviews
Bio
Please write to any of these adresses:
contact@marchingband.se
We also have a MySpace-profile.
Label US: U&L records
Label Japan: &Records/Youth Inc.
Booking Agent Europe: robin@luger.se
For publishing inquires email jonathan@urbandlazar.com
jonas.c.lind@gmail.com made the website. Thanks!
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Reviews for Spark Large
The latest Swedish sensation comes in the form of Marching Band. Their five-song Spark Large EP, produced by Adam Lasus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yo La Tengo), sees Erik Sundberg and Jacob Lind create a multi-layered, catchy-with-a-twist brand of indie pop that recalls both the Shins and Belle & Sebastian but still sounds wholly original. At times the duo sound like they operate with at least three times the manpower, incorporating a dizzying array of instruments into the mix (xylophone, marimba, vibraphone and banjo), and harmonize like the Zombies never existed. Adding to the charm of these recordings are the off-kilter rhythms (check out the shuffle-y rhythm on the amazing "Don't Go") and slightly unhinged qualities of the music, like it could break down and fall apart at any moment. I think what we have here is one of the dark horses of 2008, and I wouldn't be surprised if Marching Band become one of the festival-circuit buzz bands next year. Girls room poster-worthy pop, indeed.
othermusic.com
As many people no doubt discovered in Sunday's The New York Times, "Stockholm Is More Than Abba's Town." The same article also brought to my attention the startling news that Christopher Walken once said or did something, possibly humorous, involving cowbells-- can any Pitchfork readers give me more information about this hot tip? What the Grey Lady left out, though, is that Sweden's music scene is more than Stockholm: Jens Lekman, the Knife, the Tough Alliance, the Honeydrips, Love Is All and many others hail from Gothenburg, while I'm From Barcelona call Jönköping home, the Radio Dept. and the LK come from Malmö, and newcomers Marching Band are based in Linköping.
This duo of Erik Sunbring and Jacob Lind play low-key, folk-touched indie pop on "Feel Good About It", from their forthcoming album produced by Adam Lasus (Clap ur Hands Say Yeah, La Tengo, Lilys). Sunbring and Lind trade high, close harmonies and reassuring words over a warm, slightly ramshackle backing of acoustic guitar, piano, drums, and light electronic effects, like the Shins sliding down better-fitting chutes. Is Linköping more than Marching Band's town? Dear Ryan Schreiber, I would love to go find out.
pitchforkmedia.com
Reviews for EP3
Marching Band ... seem like really nice guys. If you click around the pictures on their website you'll see lots of grass, trees, sunsets and bicycles. That seems about right to me, considering this is folk pop written by two friends from Sweden. And while we're in the beginning of Spring and this music seems rooted in Autumn, I think we can make due. I like that this isn't country, or especially sad, or especially whiney. It's not really indie rock. It's really just pop music with nice harmony vocals, crisp acoustic guitars and some interesting production quirks here and there in the background. I especially like the xylophone quietly echoing the guitar line in the outro. The song has the feeling of something wrapping up, finally coming to a close. It reminds me of both Jose Gonzalez and Kings of Convenience, but it's a little sunnier than both of those, with seemingly more hope attached. This song comes off the band's most recent of 3 EPs. You can hear the band's growth on each subsequent release, with this latest being the most confident and self-assured of the bunch. The opening track "Letters" is a nic piece of pop as well...
music.for-robots.com
Betyg: 8/10. Att göra nägon glad. "Brevskrivande är en underskattad sysselsättning. Hur många orkar skriva riktiga brev längre? Sätta sig ner med ett papper och fatta en penna, skriva ett brev, betala ett frimärke och släpa brevet till en brevlåda. Brevvänner finns inte längre, ingen vill pennfajtas. Ett handritat hjärta eller en dödskalle eller en kanin kan aldrig ersättas ordentligt av en smiley. "Letters" är första spåret på Marching Bands skiva med handritat omslag. I denna låt skriver sångaren och en person brev till varandra om olika årstider och händelser tills refrängen där sångaren utbrister att brevskrivaren måste sluta skriva brev, skaffa ett liv och nya vänner. Allt ackompanjerat av en liten orkesterkavalkad. Det här är en sprakande underbar poplåt. Något som låter som en xylofonslinga dominerar refrängen och den gör den alldeles fullständigt glad. Och det är bara det första spåret. Skivan följer inget direkt mönster annat än att alla låtar är bra. Otroligt nog är detta tillverkat av två Linköpingsstudenter. Och tydligen med dagens teknik är allt som behövs två snubbar och en dator för att göra fantastisk musik. Med det sagt är ingenting elektroniskt, med hjälp av instrumentlån och några hemmainspelningssessioner har "Marching Band" sett dagens ljus. Marching band påstår att de försöker göra originell indie-pop och vem fan gör inte det. Hur som helst så lyckas de väldigt bra men visst går det att höra influenser, som The Shins och Ed Harcourt. Man skulle nästan önska att de var ett paradband som marcherade runt världen i en glädjeturnˇ. Själva säger de att "målet med musiken är att göra våra egna och våra lyssnares liv lite gladare". Och det var jävlarimamma det bästa jag har hört på länge."
Marie Lindström, dagensskiva.com
Corren demorecension, betyg: 5 av 5.
"Ett egetutgivet tiospårsalbum finns redan ute där glada och spralliga Letters inleder. Här förklarar Linköpingsduon att de skriver brev och gärna tar emot dem också. Söta popklanger och infallsrik instrumentering gör att man blir intresserad av Marching Band.
We write letters/we fell that good friends should be kept."
Groove 06/05
"Linköpingsduon fortsätter att utvecklas. På första fullängdaren har deras charmiga indiepop dragit sig lite mer åt folkhållet, men också åt knasiga orkesterarr. Från Pedro the Lion till Sufjan Stevens, om man ska ta till jämförelser. Men det behöver man inte göra. Marching Band cyklar stadigt på egna hjul. Här presenterar de tio egensinniga låtar som får mungiporna att dras allt längre upp mot öronen. Charmigt och medryckande. På ett sätt som det bara kan bli om det finns begåvning och kompetens i botten. Det här vill jag ha mer av!"
Magnus Sundell, Trots Allt
"...den charmanta poplåten Letters som finns med på killarnas finfina fullläängdsplatta där de avverkar alltifrån orkestrerade banjostycken till rusiga klockspelskaskader med allt vad det innebär av allsångsrefräånger ala Beach Boys..."
Pelle Gustavsson, P3 Lab
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Bio
Marching Band is an indie-pop band based in Linköping, Sweden, formed by Jacob Lind and Erik Sunbring. Their new album, Pop Cycle, was written during an intense six month period when Jacob and Erik were moving into a new apartment, all their belongings were in storage and they had to write their songs without a home base. This situation did not hinder the band, but instead inspired them to work even harder to perfect the ultimate follow up to their debut album Spark Large.
While the Marching Band's debut album was recorded in sunny Los Angeles, CA with Adam Lasus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Yo La Tengo), Pop Cycle was recorded during the two most miserable winter months of the year in Stockholm with legendary Swedish producer Jari Haapalainen (Ed Harcourt, Camera Obscura, The Concretes). The ultimate result is a musically darker record. The lyrics are more personal as well, yet Pop Cycle still has the trademark Marching Band sound - intricate melodies and complex arrangements with an effortless, undeniable pop-feeling. If you put it on repeat you will experience an ever lasting Pop Cycle.
In 2008, Jacob and Erik released Spark Large, their first full-length album on U & L Records. Upon hearing it Rolling StoneÕs "Hype Monitor" wrote: "The Swedish duo crafts their own brand of pillowy pop, brightened with bands of psychedelia." They quickly gained early radio support in Los Angeles when tracks from the debut surfaced on KCRW and INDIE 103.1. In the months to follow their music found fans at NPR where they were featured on "World Cafˇ," "Second Stage" and "Song of the Day." Marching Band was also featured in Billboard's Underground Column and got the attention of one of the most discerning critics - Pitchfork.
In addition, Marching Band earned the attention of music supervisors for both film and TV. As a result their songs have been featured in Zombieland (Sony Picture Entertainment), Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist (Sony Pictures), 90210 (CW), How I Met Your Mother (CBS), Scrubs (ABC), The Ex List (CBS), My New BFF (MTV), My Life As Liz (MTV) and Greek (ABC).
Now Marching Band's much-anticipated second album, Pop Cycle, is set for a May 2010 release on U & L Records. The new album is a full sounding, ear tickling compilation of songs and sure to win them even more fans.