A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night

iTunes Review

Sweden’s twitchy, retro-punk Love Is All churn up the type of prototypical punk that utterly thrills — not to mention drives a person to dangerous modes of free-form, spastic dance. A giddy Josephine Olausson sings and twitters and coos, sometimes in a reverb-wrapped chamber of chill, and other times in a straightforward, clipped, delivery — but she always means business. Opening track “New Beginnings” starts off with a rubbery, pulsing guitar that melds into contortioning saxophones, reminiscent of seminal art-punk band X-Ray Spex. The saxophones push “Give It Back” into a breakneck, vaguely ska-flavored tune, Olausson in a clipped sing-speak until the chorus turns her delivery to a smooth, airy trill. The chunky guitars and hooky chorus of “Movie Romance” are irresistible, while “Last Choice” comes off like a Peter, Bjorn & John homage, with its honeyed melancholy, synthesized steel drums, and hand claps. As if things weren’t good enough already, it’s clear the band knows its musical history: the plinking keys on the frisky  “Wishing Well” lifts from The Clean’s hallowed “Tally Ho.” The breathless pace is broken up with the Ronettes-meet-the-Raveonettes wistfulness of “When Giants Fall,” and the bittersweet boy-girl vocals on the breakup ballad, “A More Uncertain Future.” A Hundred Things… nearly rivals the band’s debut Nine Times That Same Song, and that’s saying something.