Superheroes...

They don't belong to the new generation...

Apologies for the lack of post yesterday- I guess Sundays are becoming an increasingly bizarre day of juggling recovery from Saturday night (in the form of sleep), trying to sort out stuff for job interviews, and listening (oh, and Myspacing) for more and more music to cover....And trying to find my lost passport. It pretty much takes up most of Sunday to whittle down the choices, and I've still not managed to thank all my Myspace friends yet... (I fear I'll have to give up personal comments for everyone soon...)

Anyway, it's a great one today. Posts here, here (I've been trying to remember how to speak Dutch- believe it or nor, I was actually pretty good at one point) and here (in Danish) reminded me that I really should cover Superheroes (something that I've had hidden in the back office since I started this..).

Fronted by the beautiful multi-talented (former?) wunderkind Thomas Troelsen (well known for producing Crunchy Frog label-mates Junior Senior), Superheroes are a 6 piece multi-talented band who produce pretty, danceable perfect pop music with an 80s synth vibe. According to various sources, they adopted the sound before it became wildly popular again... Heavy on irony and humour there's also a hidden intelligence, and the odd homage if you look hard enough for it...

Formed in 1996, and signed for one album by Crunchy Frog when Thomas T was just 15 (a deal that's been renewed a few times since), they've since had a few radio hits. In a time when pop music is homogonised beyond all recognition by marketing men (and I speak as a marketer myself, though not a music one) it's refreshing to see a band so free of the self-consciousness that seems to the the pervading attitude. Sometimes I wonder why we don't have more of this in the UK, and then I realise that it couldn't happen...

Unfortunately, they're another one of those bands who are currently making a new album, but...well, that doesn't matter if you need to catch up on what's come before, does it? Superheroes have been hidden somewhere at the back of my mind since their London show in October 2004 (just after I left the city for the suburbs... I haven't yet managed to get back, but I guess that's one for my other blog..)

Someone Else (from Superheroes)

Turn me on

Cool Girl

Johnny and I (from Igloo)

What's Going on

Nightmare

For a list of places to buy, and for more video and audio, visit here. Strangely, they don't seem to have a Myspace, though Thomas Troelsen does...

They're website's pretty fantastic too- full of bizarre facts, videos and the like- well worth a look. One last thing, though (and it's a peculiarly Danish trait) it's refreshingly unusual to read something like the below on a band's website (and actually believe it)...

We are trying to focus on the music and not all the glamour
that surrounds it. We of course did a lot of press to promote the album, but we try to cut down on this as we don't find ourselves that interesting. We like to record songs and we like to play live. And we love the fact that people enjoy our songs and shows.
That's enough for us.

Janteloven in practice? I think so.

BTW, Girl In The Cafe has a pretty good Danish-tagged selection here