Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Je Suis Animal – Self Taught Magic From A Book

With a name like Je Suis Animal and a debut called Self-Taught Magic From A Book, which comes complete with beautifully weird inner-sleeve artwork and handwritten lyrics, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that this album is going to be the quintessence of indie.

The band formed at art school in the UK before settling down in Norway, and offers 80s nostalgia which itself was inspired by 60s psychedelia, with jangly guitars and pretty female vocals sitting atop a bed of shoegazey noise.

Self-Taught Magic… was recorded in an old community hall, deep within the woodland of central Norway and, because it took just seven days, feels almost live with a nice rough edge to it. Tracks like Fortune Map and Start The Night land Je Suis Animal’s sound not a million miles from The Velvet Underground and Nico. However, the album’s pretty harmonies, lovely melodies and general perkiness also point firmly in the direction of sunny Scandinavian indie-pop. Standout track The Mystery of Marie Roget is an example of this as well being a good indication of the somewhat whimsical lyrical content, which deals with murder mysteries, magic, art and sex.

While there is nothing about this album that suggests Je Suis Animal are going to set the world alight, there is an undeniable charm here, and anyone desperately searching for the missing link between My Bloody Valentine, Stereolab and The Concretes will find what they are looking for.