slumberland records

indie-mp3

Slumberland Records have been resurgent over the past year with releases by The Crabapples, Sarandon and The How to name just a few. And the releases keep coming.

The latest LP to find it's way onto my Ipod is the 2nd release by The Lodger. It's called Life Is Sweet and after seeing the Lodger back in April where they showcased a fair few of these songs I was really excited by the prospect of hearing this record. And my memory of the songs has not been playing tricks with me. Life Is Sweet is a great little pop record. I'd always like the bands debut LP Grown-Ups and it's rare for bands to make a second LP that is stronger or better than there first. The Lodger seem to have managed this trick with ease.

Recent single 'The Good Old Days' is a beautiful piece of sunshine pop music and the recent orange video has been one of my You Tube favourites lately.

The LP kicks of with 'The Finest Hour' and it's hard to argue with the title. This is great pop music. Singer and (songwriter) Ben Siddall is fast becoming something of a songsmith. The songs on Life Is Sweet are a cut above what he has written before. The strength and depth of this record is evident throughout. Each song is instantly hummable and just as memorable. I hear echoes of Brit Pop on here as well - with a strong influence from the song writing of Ian Broudie (Lightning Seeds) shining through. I was never a massive fan of Brit Pop - but in this context The Lodger are to be applauded for following their heart and not some trend towards jangly guitars for their own sake. The production on the record allows the songs to fill their own space. Their is nothing over complicated. My favourite on the LP is probably ' An Unwelcome Guest' which is just a lovely song. Life Is Sweet is a record that flows effortlessly and as it comes to an end - you just wanna press the repeat button.

- Trev Lostmusic

One Kind Radio

OK, here it is kids, you know those days when you want to kill people, but somehow just don’t see the legalities of it really working for you in the end? Well this is the album you put on to drown out those nasty rages from spiraling out of control. Lodger’s sophomore effort, Life Is Sweet not only makes you smile with it’s infectious pop sensibilities, but lo and behold, Lodger has evaded the dreaded “sophomore slump.”

Life Is Sweet starts off with “My Finest Hour” a nice little poppy number and goes into my favorite track on the album “Good Old Days.” I can’t help but dance around to the slight disco innuendos and soulful voice breaking through the otherwise twee pop vocals. The rest of the album keeps in stride never faltering from it’s strong pop structure. All around this is really just a great album from start to finish, which is nice, because it’s been a long time since I’ve heard a great straight-up pop album.

- Xtine

Under The Radar

This UK trio has been likened to such guitar-pop heavies as The Smiths and The Go-Betweens, but a better comparison might be to the solo work of ex-Haircut 100 leader Nick Heyward. Expertly melodic, utterly tuneful, and largely upbeat, The Lodger's sophomore album succeeds along the lines of pop royalty.

- Frank Valish

Dagger

UK’s The Lodger exploded onto the indie pop scene a few years back with a slew of terrific singles that was released last year in the Slumberland label in a 14 song collection GROWN-UPS. It was a ramshackle bunch of tunes that seemed to be held together by leader Ben Siddal’s special brand of duct tape that he breaks out when it’s time to write a new song. If I’m not mistaken these songs were record together in one recording session as opposed to the debut which was recorded at different times thus making LIFE IS SWEET seem more like a cohesive record. Opener “My Finest Hour” opens with some suave pop, upbeat music coupled with lyrics about a busted relationship while song #2, “The Good Old Days” , is one of the picks to click her with plenty of that high harmonic guitar work ala Orange Juice, The Wedding Present , Aztec Camera and other bands that occupy Siddal’s record collection. The violin on “Honey” was a perfect addition and gives the record a different side and “A Year Since Last Summer” quickens the pace and brings to mind UK’s late, lamented Housemartins. While some of these songs needed to initially grow on me, LIFE IS SWEET now seems like a perfect progression from the debut and each listen is revealing new and lasting magic.

- Tim

Eardrums Music

I’m late with everything at the moment, and this album is so good that I should have told you about it the minute I got it. Sorry about that…

This is probably the soundtrack of spring and summer 2008 for me. The Lodger’s debut album Grown ups was a real kick, with classic melodies and fantastic energy, and I’ve waited for the second one. I’m not disappointed at all. On their second album Life is sweet (out now on Slumberland records), they continue where they left us, probably a bit more refined. There’s still edge and roughness in the songs, but for me, the melodies sounds more in focus than they were on The Lodgers highly melodic debut. Highlights for me are the bouncy “a year since last summer”, the darker “the conversation”, “Honey” with its unusual rhythm structures, the wonderful and catchy single “The Good old days” and the opener “My finest hour”.

With The Lodger, Life definitely is sweet!

- Knut

Allmusic.com

The Lodger's debut album, Grown-Ups, was a fine slice of indie pop that called to mind stellar groups like Orange Juice, the Wedding Present, and Heavenly, while making a case that they might someday be mentioned in that same class. Life Is Sweet is a step forward in both sound and song, and goes a long way toward making this thought a reality. The newly configured trio is driven as before by Ben Siddall's ace songwriting and intimate vocal style, but on Life Is Sweet, the songwriting has gotten a bit sharper, trading some of the wordiness that often derailed Grown-Ups for a more refined approach. Nowhere is this better illustrated than on the punchy and lyrically austere track "The Good Old Days." It's the kind of song that could overshadow the rest of the album, taking post-Postcard Orange Juice as inspiration, it sounds like a jumped up version of "I Can't Help Myself" with some thrilling falsetto and a huge hook. Luckily, the rest of the record is strong enough to withstand the threat of being swamped by the presence of such a monster song, and there are a few (the opening "My Finest Hour," the rocked-out "The Conversation," the brief but ultra-catchy "A Year Since Last Summer," and the country rocking of "Nothing (Left to Say)") that come close to the same rarefied air as "The Good Old Days" occupies. It helps too that the songs are played by a trio that is tighter than a baby tee, sounding at times like the Jam in the taut and ferocious attack. Unlike most indie pop bands, they choose to keep the sound pretty insular; apart from a slash of pedal steel here and a violin there, the sound is guitars, drums, and keys, and this focus creates a unified mood from song to song. Often a recipe for blandness, here the band's energy and craft keep things interesting and lively. With only a couple minor stumbles (like the overly wordy "Honey"), the solid and often thrilling Life Is Sweet is a confirmation of the promise made by Grown-Ups that firmly plants the Lodger at the head of the class of indie pop in the late 2000s.

- Tim Sendra