Customer Reviews

When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this EP late last year and, within a month, I owned every piece of music that Lekman has published. The guy is a true talent---a great ear for melody and brilliant compositional skills.

He combines simple, sweet melodies with low-res samples, blurred horn and string arrangements and quirky lyrics to deliver some of the most refreshing music I've heard in over a decade.

If you're a fan of succinct, educated conanical pop ala early-Costello or The Smiths and/or indie fare such as Belle and Sebastian (Arab Strap days,) Kings of Convenience and the Acid House Kings, then I can't recommend his music strongly enough. As with any groundbreaking body of work, its sophistication lies in its honesty and simplicity.

If you get a chance, you MUST catch one of his live shows. I saw him in Amsterdam in early-2005 and it was easily the most memorable set I've ever attended. 30 minutes into his gig, the venue's management cut-in on him, informed him of a scheduling snafu and asked him to pack-up.

Instead of abandoning his audience, he grabbed a ukulele, invited the attendees outside and finished his set in an adjacent alley. With trams jingling in the background and residents of a neighboring building cheering him on from their windows, he strummed and sang for 45 minutes, blowing-away everyone within earshot. He played simply for his love of music and a sense of obligation to those who had paid to see him. Needless to say, it was a genuinely special experience and everyone was very touched.

The guy is a true musician, a born entertainer, a consummate professional and, as such, an enormous breath of fresh air. You can't help but fall in love with his work.

I don't know why I had never heard of Jens until recently, he's fantastic! This album has not left my cd changer and I have recently won a bloody battle with my meager wallet over ordering everything in his back catalog. Sure, he sounds like the Swedish Jonathan Richman, but you wouldn't believe what a good thing that can be. Where else will you find handclaps and doo wop dancing together in songs about starting riots, tin-drum laden birthday shout-outs, orchestras floating over lyrics promoting the joys of erotic asphyxiation, and toe tapping tunes about vandalizing luxury cars, lover's vomiting at office parties, and making out in church with an existentialist? Truly marvelous. I must say that I really don't see the Morrissey comparisons. Besides Jonathan Richman, I would think you'd fall in love with this if you appreciate the Magnetic Fields, Belle and Sebastian, or any kind of off-kilter, witty pop. According to Amazon he's a giant Top-40 star in Sweden. So how come we get stuck with Maroon 5? Wonders never cease.

Lekman's intimate, gentle, stripped down Swedish pop reminds me of Kings of Convenience, though with brighter sound and often hilarious and wacky lyrics. His love songs (6, 7, 9, 10) are ironic and sensitive. His pleasant voice, reminiscent of Stephin Merritt dominates the songs, making his self-deprecating humor and political witticisms (3) really stand out.

Recommended Tracks: 1, 2, 3*, 5**, 6**, 9**

I don't know if it was the timing of the release of this record, but I truly cannot get enough of this album right now. The descriptions of the record you will hear are entirely accurate. He is a gifted singer/songwriter (and I think he arranges the music on his own as well) who writes gorgeous melodies with lyrics that give off feelings of sadness and humor, often at the same time. Call this record melancholy fun if you want, but it is so much more than that and I really can't recommend it highly enough. I would have said it was my favorite debut of the year, but the Arcade Fire record holds that status now and probably will till the end of the year. A great record from an artist worth paying attention to.

The best tracks are Tram # 7 to Heaven, Higher Power, You are the Light and Julie. Listen to a few tracks on amazon to make sure you like his voice, and then your golden. The whole cd is good, and I place him in the same category as Damien Rice even though Jens is more vocal.

I've become sort of a Jens Lekman-aholic these past few months, and if you haven't heard him yet, you owe it to yourself to pick up one of his albums. But, I think you'll get a much better idea of his talent from "Oh You're So Silent Jens" then you will from this album. While still better than a lot of pop music out there, some songs, like "Tram #7", have a noticeably bad production quality, and others, like "Silvia", just aren't that memorable. Yeah, he's prone to some bad rhymes, like rhyming "Pullovers" with "Casanova". But his tendency to use "cigarette lighter" in more rhymes than you thought possible is just part of his charm. My favorite song on this album is "Higher Power", which adds clever and unexpected lyrics to a lushly orchestrated and extremely catchy melody. From the almost a-cappela "Do You Remember the Riots" to the jaunty "Happy Birthday" to the more quiet yet funny "Psychogirl", this album is, for the most part, just a lot of fun to listen to.

In my opinion, this album is a little weak compared to 'At the Department of Forgotten Songs,' but well worth a listen. This CD could have been really great. It has some really pretty music and some good vocal melodies. But my two main problems with it is that the vocals are a little monotone sometimes and the lyrics are silly and offputting pretty frequently, and come off sounding forcefully and premeditatively absurd.

Fans of Morrissey would probably have a predisposition for Jens Lekman's stuff.

This album isn't as great as some reviews would have you believe but it is a solid listen and this guy clearly has some real talent. It's a bit uneven (though it does have a ragged charm about it) - some of the tracks come off as a bit weak and underdeveloped, particularly in the first half, but there's enough quality to maintain your interest.

My main problem with this album is that, stylistically, it's all a bit disjointed and doesn't flow very well, coming off as a bunch of fragments, rather than a cohesive album. Also, the lyrics often tread a fine line between being wryly humorous and downright silly. Sometimes it's all a bit too knowing and tongue in cheek, robbing the music of any real emotional impact. Still, an interesting album and definitely worth a few listens.

Providence, Rhode Island. There are many who remember where they were at when a notable event occurred. For instance, the majority of baby boomers recall specific details about their lives when President Kennedy was assassinated or when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. For me, a twenty-seven year old, I generally recall where I'm at when I discover an artist or film that astonishes me. It was in Providence that I first heard "If You Ever Need A Stranger (To Sing At Your Wedding)" by Jens Lekman.

I might add that memories escape me rather easily, so it's not often I recall the specific track that served as my inception into the conscripts of a particular artists fanbase. But this is a notable exception - there were the initial piano strains that softly whispered in my ears, the closing beauty of his female accompaniment wordlessly singing, and between it all was Lekman's ocean deep voice resonating with the dual qualities of both youthful masculinity and elderly wisdom.

The melody sounded familiar even upon first listen (a quality I've found that the best songs share) and brought to mind an early morning stroll through a garden. I was struck with a sense of immediate peace (again, an essential quality for a truly great song), as if for the four minute duration of the song the world made a bit more sense. The lyrics engaged me on an almost philosophical level and I found myself curiously wondering how Lekman's wedding singer fill-in would handle a "power ballad" such as "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses (a personal choice).

That track alone is worth the purchase price, so it's grand discovery to realize the strength of the record as a whole. Many of these songs sound as if they were culled from a dream, their beauty and charm seem too pure to have been conceived in reality. "The Cold Swedish Winter" and "A Higher Power" have some of the most ingenious lyrics I've heard in years. "Silvia" and "Psychogirl" ring true to anyone who has ever had a relationship that resembled a fractured fairytale.

"Tram #7 to Heaven" and "Happy Birthday, Dear Friend Lisa" are both so gloriously upbeat and beautifully constructed that hitting the repeat button is nearly involuntary. "Do You Remember the Riots" is an acapella track, which is quite satisfying, but make certain to check out the orchestral version which is readily available on the artist's personal website (along with quite a few other gems culled from various EPs, all of which are worth checking out).

Lekman's subsequent work is essential material as well, particularly Oh You're So Silent Jens and Night Falls Over Kortedala.

Jens Lekman is slowly becoming a favorite in the US and this is a great album to start with if you're just getting to know him as an artist. He's like a one-man combination of belle and sebastian, frank sinatra, and ?? (insert someone with extra zany lyrics). His songs are strange and yet totally true to life. I highly recommend this disc if you think the idea of someone saying he wants to be your dog out of loyalty is funny and cute.