16 Candles @ Lakeview Taco Fest

Combining international musical influences and an indie-pop, rock sensibility, Love in October is the epitome of a band with multiple "genre" disorder. The new self-titled EP, releasing on May 26, 2009 in vinyl and digital forms, is an amalgamation of sounds, styles, and languages that is the result of a childhood spent dreaming in Swedish pop and innocence. In the summer of 2006, native Swedish brothers Erik (vocals/guitar/moog) and Kent Widman (bass/percussion) formed Love in October while living stateside in Minneapolis. A move to Chicago found them the three essential members to complete the international quintuplet; Andrew Russell from Canada (moog/guitar/vocals), Vik Chaudhry from India (guitar/glockenspiel), and Ivan Sosa from Mexico (drums). They announced their musical debut with the snappy Words of Sound EP, 18 minutes of nonstop, fast-paced indie rock. Their full-length, Pontus, The Devil, And Me, followed in early 2008, charted #45 on CMJ Radio 200, and received national acclaim. Kerrang! said of the group: "While ostensibly a rock band, [they] have an ABBA streak in them so pop they might just burst; the melodies and itchy keyboard lines jumping like Mexican beans." The new self-titled EP, recorded and produced by the band, harkens to the sounds of disco dance rock and indie pop jamboree with an array of additional influential sounds that read out like a game of connect the dots. It’s hard to simply apply one genre as encompassing of the whole album, from the instrumental chaotic-rock opener "Kära Gud, ge mig en själ..."("Dear God, give me a soul...") which seamlessly leads into the album standout "Soft Errors," that combines an upbeat danceable track, with electronic blips, a steady bass line, and a catchy harmonizing chorus. Another standout track on the EP is "Like Nothing Ever Happened" which Erik says "is a direct translation from my childhood brain put into music." It has a playful innocence to it accompanied by the quick sputtering of lyrics that describe a childhood scenario and a cheerful horn section. The album closes with the dreamy and blissful "27-08-08," sung in Swedish, it adds an unexpected introspection to an otherwise bright album.