The Legends
Up Against The Legends
(Lakeshore)
First Appeared in The Music Box, November 2004, Volume 11, #11
Written by John Metzger
There’s simply no other way to put it: For fans of The Smiths, The Cure, The
Jesus and Mary Chain, and pre-Oasis Brit-pop, The Legends’ debut Up Against
The Legends is a tightly-knit, 30-minute blast of utter bliss. Setting its
engaging melodies within the colossal maelstrom of a Phil Spector-ish Wall of
Sound, the Swedish ensemble adorns its shimmering garage-pop songs with a myriad
of colors and textures, pitting its distorted vocals, hazy harmonies, and
chiming guitars against a backdrop of hand claps, tambourine taps, cymbal
crashes, keyboard pulses, and bass runs. Among the album’s 12 tracks, not a
single tune falls flat, and each effortlessly assumes its own breezily
infectious, retro-infused posture. That something so decidedly anchored within
the past succeeds as well as it does is a surefire testament to The Legends’
ability to not only emulate its heroes, but also to capture their essence, and
the group’s well-constructed songs avoid sounding as pretentious as its moniker
otherwise would imply. From the head-bopping beat of Nothing To Be Done
to the sunny, summery refrains of Call It Ours to the airy, Belle &
Sebastian-hued lilt of When the Day Is Done, Up Against The Legends
is a delightfully intoxicating collection that, in this age of over-bloated
albums, leaves the listener begging and pleading for more. 
Of Further Interest...
Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses / self-titled: 20th Anniversary Edition
Up Against The Legends is available from
Barnes & Noble. To order, Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2004 The Music Box