Singles

Love Is All - Busy Doing Nothing

Holly Barnes 17/07/2006

Rating: 4/5

Wow. It hits you from the very beginning: the grainy squawky vocals and punchy, rhythmic saxophone show no mercy. There's punk here from this Swedish five-piece, and Rapture-esque electro-indie-disco, kinda like The Concretes on acid. On numerous occasions over the past month or so I've been compelled to return to the beginning of Busy Doing Nothing, for the sole reason of feeling that first burst of racing music again, savour those jitters it creates. A while back, a stupendously sozzled friend exclaimed: “There's a party in my stomach, and it's like falling in love for the first time”; well, Love Is All create a similar rush. This record makes me very sad that there exists nowhere near my home a decent club that would play this and allow me to spaz out in my own special way to it- I'd party like it's SXSW 2006! Busy Doing Nothing even has a 'time-out' in the middle (correct musical terms have no place here), with just soloing bass before drums and a LOT of cymbal are reintroduced, allowing exhausted and dehydrated dancers a brief respite. And when the last vocals end and the saxophone fades, the disappointment is replaced with delight when I find that the B-sides are also bloody awesome. Motorboat is a cover (Kim Fowley, anyone?) that boasts bizarro lyrics and a more rockabilly feel, while Felt Tip is just as good as the A-side, if you can imagine that. Not, sadly, an ode to stationery, but a beautiful ballad; male and female almost-whispered vocals combine tenderly, allowed by the production to peak a bit high at times, giving them an old-school love-song feel that suits the song perfectly. If Busy Doing Nothing is the rush of running hand-in-hand with a new love, then Felt Tip is the moonlit, and preferably al fresco, consummation.