I’m about to make a statement here that might blow your minds. Radio Department > Miike Snow. There I said it. Let the angry emails come flooding in. Miike Snow has captured the American audience in a way that fellow swedes The Radio Dept never will. Miike Snow has been selling out shows left and right and filling up tents at Coachella. I’m guessing if the Radio Dept was asked to play Coachella they’d be pulling the thankless 12:30 pm set…and that’s OK. If you’ve ever hit a 12:30 set at a festival it is pretty inspiring because the band is giving it their all for the handful of people who bothered to show up and its hard to tell who appreciates the early efforts more. Let Miike Snow have the crowds. I’ll gladly go see The Radio Dept at a small venue and hear their beautifully crafted shoegazey dream pop surrounded by a small set of non-sweaty hipsters…who will instantly drop them if they’re ever able to amass any semblance of popularity. Ah the cycle of life.
For now The Radio Dept remains a hidden gem. “Clinging To a Scheme” builds off of 2006’s “Pet Grief“ in a way that makes you realize that those 12:30 sets might very well be a thing of the past sooner than expected. Delicate textures and melodies wash over the tracks in a waves of emotion that are enhanced by the lost love crooning vocals that together throw your mind into a Vicodin and Tecate like haze that you won’t want to escape from. Consider this the lead album for the soon to be created Sleep Mix #3!
Highlights: “Domestic Scene,” “Heaven’s On Fire,” “The Video Dept,” “Never Follow Suit”
