Studio

Swedish duo Dan Lissvik and Rasmus Hagg have finally issued their debut album here in North America after its initial Scandinavian release last year had tongues wagging online. Following the compilation of twelve-inches called Yearbook 1 that appeared earlier this year, West Coast demonstrates that every drop of acclaimed ink these Swedes have received over the last year is well deserved. Evoking the stylish and sleek, electronically-enhanced post-punk oeuvre heard from labels like Factory or Cherry Red 25 years ago, Studio blur the lines between genres with their capacity for layering a number of synths, various drum sounds, guitars and copious studio effects. Single "West Side,” for instance, sounds like a !!! 78 spinning at 33 speed, knocking out a barrage of dub-affected rhythms in slow motion, while the echoed guitars chime endlessly. Maybe not idyllic for short attention spans, Studio ignore song lengths entirely. They take schizophrenic instrumental "Out There,” well, out there to the 16-minute mark, while thrusting the 12-minute "Life’s A Beach” into a reverberating groove that ends in crashing waves. West Coast is not only the best debut album of the past year, but also the reason why headphones were invented.