A catapult jump ahead of 2009`s "Standby", Ex Norwegian has confidently found its footing and confidently strides ahead of the pop pack with "Sketch". Back in 2008, there was a CD on this site from a band called Father Bloopy that blended early 70s Bowie, ELO, Lou Reed, Flaming Lips, Beck and lots and lots of Ray Davies(yes!), leaving that unusual name behind and becoming Ex Norwegian, leader Roger Houdaille continues to use those influences on with Ex Norwegian but with a more updated, modern sound(think T. Rex playing The Killers). "An upbeat album that has a solid guitar sound, catchy hooks and an obvious love for `90s rock, with tight song structures, big choruses and complete confidence. The band would not be out of place on a bill with Sloan or Big Star, which in my book is never a bad thing!" - The Fire Note. "An otherworldly slab of catchy pop rock song after catchy pop rock song, conceived in some fantastic place where the 90s power pop bubble never burst." - ESD Music. "Ex Norwegian takes an evolutionary leap forward with its latest album, following an already sterling debut, Standby. The harmonies are tighter, the production level is higher. At first, Sketch doesn`t seem to be much of a departure from Standby, but rather a fine-tuned improvement of that album`s sound, best witnessed in the gorgeous harmonizing in tunes such as "Mind Down," which also boasts some wailing guitar work. But the brash rock of the album`s first half, a sound that had so many music journalists comparing Standby to Talking Heads or 1980s-era Lou Reed, gives way to a slow, psychedelic groove on fifth track "You`re Elastic Over Me." And like an acidhead who has dosed one too many times, the album never quite returns to reality - or in this case, the straight-ahead rock of the album`s first half. Instead, it remains in a lush, layered sound that would pair well with a paisley kaleidoscope and a fistful of mushrooms, all swirling guitars and reverbed vocals..taken as a whole, Sketch performs a neat trick -- it improves on something that, before the release of this album, didn`t seem to need improving." - CityLinkMix.com
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