Peter Bjorn and John, El Perro del Mar, Yourself and the Air
Phone: 773-549-0203
Price: $22, $20 in advance, 18+
On Sarah Assbring's latest album as EL PERRO DEL MAR, Love Is Not Pop (Licking Fingers), she finds a work-around to help her make the most of her impossibly twee mini-mouse vocals—instead of putting them out front alone, the new record surrounds them with ghosty, moody 4AD-style new wave. Instead of sounding tiny, she sounds ethereal, which adds a new dimension to her precious, hoping-for-romance lyrics. Now that it's floating in a sea of reverb and delay, her voice takes up more space, and she doesn't seem scared of the sound of it anymore. The songs always stop shy of rocking out, their dark vamping and synthetic plinking staying closer to the realm of soundtrack music—some tracks feel like they could run on for another 20 minutes, drifting infinitely, soft and pure. What hasn't changed on the new album is Assbring's unassuming Swedish charm, something she shares with Lykke Li—they recently did a split single together, to which Assbring contributed a cover of Aaliyah's version of the Isley Brothers' "At Your Best (You Are Love)." In fact Love Is Not Pop might be what a Lykke Li record would sound like if you sucked the party music out and filled it with Valentine candy hearts. —Jessica Hopper
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Metro
- Wrigleyville 3730 N. Clark St.
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773-549-0203
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(based on 6 user reviews)
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