By Coastal Café is the project of a Swedish couple that is no more. It's a weird idea to re-issue these recordings after the demise of the couple's love life and musical recordings. Well, maybe it's not that weird but a part of me finds it weird. Somehow.

It's bedroom pop, recorded at home the lo-fi way, with out of tune singing and so on. It sounds a bit like smarter and less self-indulgent Moldy Peaches, who were really just a gimmick. It's simple but sometimes not really well-completed, some things sound out of place, and some of you will find it charming. I've met too many people who came out as being lo-fi just because they couldn't play their guitar to not be suspicious about it. Some songs are great, others are anecdotic. The packaging is great, a little book with childish illustrations and song titles.

This is a record i would have loved to love, but, even though it gets better towards the end, the band often comes out as being lazy and a little self-indulgent (even though "Licky Lips" is good) to have me enjoy it thoroughly. Check it out, this is subjectivity talking.

-Barbara H

/may 1st 2005/