UNIVERSAL POPLAB UNIVERSAL POPLAB ALBUM SSC, PLAYGROUND RELEASE: FEBRUARY 11, 2004 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 18, 2004

You have good days and you have bad days. Reaching through a period of a whole lot of those bad days, Universal Poplab came along at just the right time. It is as if Christer Lundberg and Paul Lachenardihre have created an exact replica of my brain in their poplab and studied what makes it tick and what triggers it best musically. "Universal Poplab" is the glorious answer. This is retro tinted synthpop constructed through cutting edge technology and producing skills, making it sound like both the past and the future.
There are heaps of dancefloor bouncers on "Universal Poplab", all of which eminate power and fresh lightheartedness. Slower pieces like "Dice Roller" does not quite reach the contagious level of gems like "Casanova Fall", "Bedhead", "New Baby Boom" and "Lovers Lane", but what does? The Morrissey cover of "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful" leaves me smiling, but I am not really a big fan of that particular song to begin with. Swedish pop phenomenon Håkan Hellström howls with Lundberg in the chorus (Christer and Håkan went to school together for a few years), adding nerve to the result.
As a side note, I am a pretty big fan of Christer's radio show on Swedish national radio P3 (especially the person profiling on Thursdays), but his witty lyrics and knack for song writing make me strutt my stuff time and again. I think I could work wonders as his side kick on the show, brainwashing some decent synthpop into the Swedish listeners. Who are now beginning to understand, by the way.

NIKLAS FORSBERG