Bleak Streak

Reviews

Bleak Streak Peak Bleak LP

An overall fantastic album out of Stockholm, Sweden that anyone who digs Sarah, K, or Slumberland Records will surely be fond of immediately. The diversity of sounds may cause a kneejerk read of a lack of cohesion, but by the time the listener is deep into album centerpiece “Imposter,” that thought will have become a distant memory. BLEAK STREAK finds their highest highs when they let things get a little shambling and loose (“Peak Bleak,” “Loser Band Plays Rock n Roll”), and that includes their C86-ified take on SNAIL MAIL’s early single “Thinning,” which works so damn well. BEAT HAPPENING, LOS CAMPESINOS!, and HEAVENLY will all come to mind throughout these tracks, and it just makes for a wonderful listen. Not every track works, and they actually lose me a little when they ramp up the aggression (“I’m Not Jealous”) or the art (“Loser Band Plays På Tisdag På Torsdag”), but those are small prices to pay for such a great ride.

Bleak Streak Bleak Streak LP

If any country has the melodic chops to churn out something you can easily describe as “dark power pop” and not have it suck, it would have to be Sweden. This Stockholm three-piece owes a lot to the KINKS and American power pop of the late ’70s like BRAM TCHAIKOVSKY, but filtered through a darker, very Nordic sound. Think what TERRIBLE FEELINGS or BURNING KITCHEN did to punk, but done to something Paul Collins would write or GALAXIE 500 would play. The guitars bounce between jangling and distorting, the vocal delivery is decidedly exerted but somehow emotionally restrained (very Swedish, in my experience with their musical output at least). A very impressive collection of little details that wind up making power pop songs with a punkish edge that ebbs and flows depending on the feel of the song. I’m a sucker for good melodies, so songs on the poppier end of their sound (like album highlight “Dark”) are more my bag, but even when they ride the accelerator or get a little somber, they deliver something their own and worthwhile. No filler here, a proper record of vinyl-worthy tunes.