Swedish Pop Gene

There is a new indie sensation called Smoosh, a band consisting of 10 and 12 year old sisters from Seattle who write their own songs and play every note of their music. (Ashlee Simpson, listen up.) They are so ridiculously talented it’s kind of depressing. You would think that just the novelty of them being so young would simultaneously perk people’s interest and at the same time doom the duo to mediocrity, but you really do have to take their music seriously - it’s that good. In fact, it’s a lot more accomplished than 90% of what’s out there today.

Their album She Like Electric runs the gamut from cute hiphop tunes like “Rad” to songs with more serious names like “It’s Cold” and “It’s Not Your Day to Shine”. Asya, the 12 year-old, plays piano, writes the lyrics and sings most of the songs, while, Chloe, the 10 year-old, is quite an accomplished drummer.

There is an interview with them on Free Williamsburg (an awesome Brooklyn-based music website - link in my sidebar.) You know they’re wise beyond their years when, in reply to a question about George W. Bush, Asya says:

“I don't like to be mean but I think that he has some really strange thoughts that are not really good.”

Amen, sister. I would be happy enough to end this article with “Just go buy the damn album already!” but I got to thinking. How is it possible that these girls have such a natural ear for music, and moreover the ability to write incredible hooks that most aspiring adult musicians would love to have thought of? Then I figured it out – their mom is from Sweden.

That’s right, Sweden. Now bear with me here because I’ve had this theory brewing for a while. I think there is something in the makeup of the Swedish national genome that makes them the best writers of pop music, almost in a preternatural way.

Exhibit A: Abba – “Dancing Queen”. The single most perfectly constructed pop song in the history of music. It’s got the hook, but it doesn’t take you there right away. “Friday night and the lights are low…” You’re thinking, what the hell, where am I? Isn’t this is a pop song, shouldn’t I have heard the hook by now? We won’t get there for another 30 seconds, we’re just setting you up. “Looking out for a place to go…” End of that stanza in minor.

In classical music this is called exposition, departure, and return. Just like Mozart, they’ll go away and come back, then go away again. “Then when you get the chance, nah-na-na-na-nah-na-na-na-nah-na-na-you-are the Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen!” I can’t stand it it’s so perfect.

Exhibit B: Cardigans – “Love Fool”. Same deal, intro starts in a minor key no less. Lah lah lah, singing about stuff, then “Love me, love me, pretend that you love me, fool me, fool me, go on and fool me… I cawn’t care ‘bout anything but you…” then back to minor for the verse. Parenthetically, another adorable thing about Swedish pop singers is that they pronounce certain words like Brits because they typically learn British English. Other times, they just blatantly mispronounce stuff. And it’s always a girl singing, how smart is that?

Exhibit C: Ace of Base – “All That She Want’s (is Another Baby)” Not quite as sterling an example, but the same thing – start somewhere else, then hit them with the hook, then make them wait a seemingly excruciating 20-25 seconds to hear the hook again.

I could go on, but I think I’ve pretty much proven that the eugenics program they had in Sweden after the war worked. It may have guaranteed Swedish pop supremacy well into the next century. Poor Hitler, despite his efforts, the best thing a whole generation of aryan spawn could manage was to idolize David Hasselhoff. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Now just go buy the damn album already!

http://www.pattern25.com/bands/smoosh.shtml