The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming

Club 8

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 13, 2007)
• Original Release Date: October 2, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Labrador Sweden
• ASIN: B000VADQSW
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #148,292 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Club 8 was formed in 1995 by Karolina Komstedt (from the band Poprace) and Johan Angergård (Acid House Kings, Poprace). They made simple bedroom recordings of their three first songs and sent them to their ten favorite labels. The response was just as immediate as it was good with half of the labels wanting to release the band. Club 8 chose the Spanish label Siesta where they released their debut single 'Me Too' later the same year and the debut album Nouvelle the year after. After four years, Club 8 is finally back with their long awaited sixth album. The waiting’s been so long we can almost, but just almost, talk about a comeback album. However, waiting’s not always a bad thing. Not only has songwriter Johan Angergård released three albums with The Legends and one with Acid House Kings in the time in between - Club 8 has evolved in to one of the most personal and emotional bands around today. The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming is everything we’d ever hoped it would be - it’s pop music at it’s most profound, balancing perfectly between sunshine and melancholia. Twelve songs that'll make you sing along about death while dreaming of summer days. A glorious return to say the least.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most underrated band today with the wisest sense of time, hands down., March 21, 2008

By	Pristine Angie at www.d332.com (NYC) - See all my reviews

Club 8 is really a band that deserves more exposure here in the US. I know they are very big in Asia and popular in Europe. I came upon them when I saw them linked to my other favorite band of the 90s, St. Etienne. The comparison is apt. Unfortunately, St. Etienne became more about Sarah Cracknell's voice, and less about Bob Stanley and Pete Wigg's musical experimentation as they gained notoriety.

Club 8, by contrast, is not as experimental. There is one big distinction Club 8 possesses, even in their pop haven: There is always a deep, persistent focus on how quickly time passes by, how quickly we age. This, for me, is really the thing that makes Club 8 stand apart from a typical happy-go-lucky pop band. They deliver the music with a cheery, beautiful, pop glow with upbeat rhythms (if not acoustic introspective numbers), but look at the lyrics and it seems mismatched.

To understand Club 8's irony better, you need to know some of their influences. As bright as their music sounds, there is a dark edge to the brilliance. This, I believe, comes from their appreciation of the works of film-maker David Lynch. The opening of their gorgeous song "We're Simple Minds" (from the album Spring Came, Rain Fell) sounds like a note-for-note quote from Lynch's Twin Peaks theme music. Also, this cd features the beautiful song "Jesus, Walk with Me," which echoes the David Lynch compilation of Twin Peaks in his movie "Fire, Walk with Me." Maybe this is just a happy coincidence, but it is the thing - the dark cloud behind that silver lining, the sadness behing the joy - that makes Club 8 songs so magical.

Next, you should realize that the songwriter and lyricist is Johan Angergard (the guy). I love Karolina Komstedt's singing, and it is extremely beautiful in its reverberated, hush-filled whisper. I used to think that it's terribly romantic (in a literate sense) that here was a woman in her middle ages (my age) singing about the things we all fear to a certain degree (passing time and aging). The feeling I get is that Komstedt is a woman who is pretty with no signs of aging showing, and singing the songs that teens can still relate to, but at the same time, there's an introspective wisdom, warning all of us to carefully mind our time here. It was as if a big sister was telling us "use your time wisely, because i have this fear, and you should have it too."

"Time is short now, we'll be here, nowhere left to go, and if you'd miss me when i'm gone, go when i go." (from Hopes and Dreams)

"in my first years there were sunny days....when winter came i was still the same...in a time ahead, no lights would be shed" (from Heaven)

"Fool me into believing, I don't care if you're deceiving me. Before I go I need to be, something more than the skin and bones you see" (Jesus Walk With Me)

Though Komstedt does give an irreplaceable presence to the Club 8 sound and the songs come to life with her voice, it is Angergard's views and sense of passing time that makes Club 8's songs so meaningful. It is sheer genius that Komstedt is enlisted to deliver the message; however, in the same way that Paul Jonathan Court wrote all the lovely lyrics of The Primitives for Tracy Tracy to sing, it is ultimately the mind of Angergard that these words of wisdom emanate from.

Both the first track ("Jesus Walk With Me") with all its ambivalence "fool me into believing, i don't care if you're deceiving me, i wouldn't want it any other way, cause then i'd only stay the same" to ("Whatever you want") which may or may not be a reference to their legion of Asian fans "whatever you want from me, whoever i try to be, i will never be there, i can never be her, in your society." Amazingly, this can be read as a message hidden within a message by lyricist Angergard, in reference to Komstedt's vocalising of his thoughts.

The bottom line is this: Club 8 is a great duo and they have a sometimes poppy, other times introspective sound that carries on the tradition of Francois Hardy, France Gall, and St. Etienne. With it's ruminative, intelligent lyrics and loner sensibilities accompanied by the polished Swedish pop sound that Abba and Eggstone has introduced us to, they will undoubtedly become a hit in the US one day. I just hope more people discover them sooner than later.

Try this or any of their other recordings out. You won't be disappointed.

I guess I should add that they are my favorite active musical duo, and I would fly to Sweden to see them today if they were to perform.

For more on Club 8, look at my Amazon profile for a review of each album from their entire discography. For a shorter version, check out my Amazon Listmania list of Club 8's discography.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet, spring sunshine!, May 25, 2009

By	New Order Fan - See all my reviews

This is dreamy pop confection from Sweden. Break the seal, open the box and you'll find sweet singing and melodic softly strummed guitars. This release shows progression for the band, and great song structure, enhanced by flattering production. This is the sound of a beautiful spring day, and this listener can't stop dreaming of Club 8.