Review: jj – No. 3

As the first track faded out, I was haunted by the lyrics: “All around the world, na na na na North America.” Where had I heard this before? A short trip to Google provided me with the answer: the mid-’90s radio hit “Around the World (La La La La La)” by ATC. These devilish Swedes had attempted to curry my favour by stirring up memories of unguiltily grooving out to ’90s dance music. Fiends! Charlatans! Abstract room painters! So, naturally, the first track is a winner in my books. The rest of the album, however, takes a turn down decidedly less emotionally stirring avenues. It’s not terribly offensive; I don’t know if there’s really enough character here to offend anyone. It’s nice to listen to, as it sounds very warm and everything is very reverb-y and it sort of sounds like you’re listening to Swedish (read: more cute and electronic) Coldplay in an echo chamber, with female vocals. Which is nice enough to listen to, but it starts to drag a little bit for want of a little variation in theme. By the time the panflute riff kicked in, I was beginning to get a touch sleepy. Probably an excellent album to lull you to sleep or play in your office if you’re a doctor who’s hip to what the kids are doing. They’re currently on tour with fellow two-letter band the xx. It’s as if there was an acronymic scale of bands, with aa being the worst and zz being the best, with the aforementioned bands in their proper places. Hopefully that’s obtuse enough for you. (Secretly Canadian, www.secretlycanadian.com) David Nowacki