Francobollo - Long Live Life

Francobollo's debut album has been a long time coming, but it's definitely been worth the wait. Although based in London, the band are predominantly Swedish and you know our thoughts about the Swedish Scene and it being so much more inventive than the UK for a number of years.

With most of the Scandanavian artists that are covered here, the emphasis is usually on Pop Hooks. Well Francobollo are very different. There are hints of everything and all of it is left field. There's a real Psych feel at times and on Kinky Lola, they are almost Beefheart.






There's also a real rustic feel, yet a song like Future Lover sounds like something off Drums And Wires. There are also times when early nineties indie springs to mind, but then they can get as noisy as The Jesus And Mary Chain.

It's the space that the band leave that appeals so much. You could compare them to a noisy Daryll-Ann.Radio sounds again like early XTC or more relevantly, Talking Heads.There's so much here to admire, but be warned Long Live Life needs repeated listening to fully appreciate what it does.






There's so much here for the listener, the album will appeal to left field Glam fans, early UK and US New Wave admirers, C86 and IRS lovers. The band also have a superb live reputation and are on tour in the UK next month, so it's a real chance to see them before they get massive.

I listen to a lot of stuff, probably too much, but my ears always prick up when I hear something that is great and more importantly, different. Long Live Life is that, you should buy it now. You can get the album on vinyl or CD here or buy it to download everywhere.