Most Valuable Players

I feel as though I've stumbled upon some old Morrissey home demos or something. Sweden's Most Valuable Players sounds like four-track Morrissey tunes covered by Casiotone For the Painfully Alone or the Unicorns before they got "big" trying to channel some of their deeper emotions through low-fidelity equipment and without pitch-perfect vocals.

The band released a super-sparse, minimalist pop album, You In Honey, in 2006 via Friendly Noise that's incredibly endearing if not a little too empty at times. They hadn't solidly landed on their sound yet, I suppose. Regardless, the LP's worth checking out ... sample two songs from it below ("AC In HCMC" and "Stockholm Doesn't Belong To Me")! You can grab a couple other sons over here, too.

What I'm most excited about, though, is the new single, "Rondo," which the group released via Friendly Noise's MP3 page (which is loaded with awesome freebies that you all ought to check out). The song is more confident, more collected, and the Morrissey comparison I drew earlier is clearer. The song sways along ... drifts past in an almost eerie haze that's made all the more sublime by the jazzy drumming, organically strummed guitar riffs and bass hooks, and warbly synth lines.

Most Valuable Players - Rondo

Most Valuable Players - Stockholm Doesn't Belong To Me

Most Valuable Players - AC In HCMC