The 1981 Listening Post - The Radio - Black Paint White Colour

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: 1981 The Radio Black Paint White Colour Genre: Swedish Power Pop Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Highlights: Looking Out My Window The Radio: Swedish Power Pop! Lead singer, Lars ‘Fubbe’ Furberg, was in a glam rock band called Tears until 1979. He doesn’t really have a power pop voice, more of a gritty, reach-for-the-high-notes tenor. The band sounds like some guys who could play pretty well but didn’t have a lot of original ideas. They were going for that sparse, angular, new wave thing, at least on the first few tracks. Gated drums, trebly guitars, bell synth chords, high harmonies, telephones, record scratches – all the quirky sounds that seemed so fresh in 1978 but were already tired by 1981. Like many of their Scandinavian brethren, they’d listened to enough British and American music to write believable copies. Don’t Give It Up feels like The Knack trying to incorporate more Devo into their sound. The Devil in Me could have been a rejected Tom Petty b-side. Mary and Johnny sounds like something a sleep-deprived Springsteen wrote late one night and forgot about the next morning. (“Mary and Johnny jumped in the river / But the river was too deep / So they went down, spun around / Over the river to the land of eternity.”) By side two we’ve entered dumb rock territory, a land few can traverse successfully. Despite Mr. Furberg’s pedigree, these guys are neither Slade nor T Rex, so they should probably find the quickest route out. Unfortunately, even when the band tries to inject some modern grooves into the mix, the uninventive melodies and Fubbe’s rasp take them back to rawk town. On Living Takes a Broken Heart, they turn the lead vocals over to co-songwriter Jan Egil-Bogwald. It’s a noble effort at pop songcraft, but he’s not much of a singer either, and despite a somewhat clever bridge, the whole thing drowns in key change repetition by the end. Too bad. There is one song I’d have to call a highlight. Looking Out My Window applies some of those modern rock tricks to some Rasperries-esque verses with a Sweet-inspired chorus and just enough hooks to hang in there for 3:15. The harmonies are huge without being overwhelming, and the cheesy keyboard solo checks in and out fast enough to avoid being annoying. Nicely done, boys. The last track is another serviceable Petty ripoff. In the end, The Swedish Radio made a forgettable stab at glory, with one small diamond buried in the rough. Even the losers get lucky sometimes. (Note: I have no idea what the album title means. Anyone want to speculate?)