Criminal Art Lovers

Album Review

Over the course of the two EPs leading up to the release of their first album, Denmark’s Northern Portrait made their love of jangling guitars, sweet melodies, and the Smiths, specifically the vocals of Morrissey, very clear. Criminal Art Lovers takes the template of the EPs and increases the melodic quotient and boosts the jangle perceptibly. The opening tracks "The Münchhausen in Me" and "When Goodness Falls" promise an album of sugar-coated melancholy indie pop gems, and the rest of the affair lives up to the promise. The sound the trio creates is nearly perfect East Village/Commotions-style sophisti-pop with layers of acoustic and electric guitars shimmering like the surface of a lake on a summer day, the drums bolstered by tambourines and subtle keys adding some smooth texture. It’s the kind of sound made for a walk through the park with the sunlight filtering down through the trees, warming your sad heart. The only problem is with Stefan Larsen's vocals. Well, it’s a problem if you find the arch, affected vocal style popularized by Morrissey to be a distraction. Larsen is so in thrall to the style that it’s a little hard to take his lyrics seriously and his yodeling falsetto swoops and self-conscious twists effectively ruin the mood at times. He sounds more interested in being interesting than conveying any emotion. Whether or not the record works is probably down to the listener’s tolerance for Larsen's vocals, which is too bad since the music is so well constructed and pretty.