4/11 new arrivals

Just in time for Spring, Labrador returns to eMusic.

For a long time I tried to either hide or lie about my sweet, sweet affection for sweet, sweet tweepop. It was so college and mid-’90s and cassette tape, all those ringing chords and swallowed singing and crayon-drawn love-notes passed between people who, at 24, should be old enough to know better. I’m starting to make a peace with my soft side now, though — I came clean in the latest edition of the editorial team’s monthly Your Music column, and will go even further now that the fantastic Labrador label has returned to the site.

Labrador is a Swedish label that’s been quietly churning out some of the best in blushing pop for the last several years. They are absolutely, unabashedly pop — huge hooks, sugary harmonies, and songs full of echo and light. As an avowed cynic, pessimist and Birthday Party fan, there’s no good reason I should love this music as much as I do. But, there you go — I am smitten.

So where to start? My personal favorite is the Legends. Up Against the Legends is everything that was great about C86 in a tidy little package. “There and Back Again” is like Jesus & Mary Chain chugging pixie stix, and “Nothing to be Done” should soundtrack every single springtime drive. From there, try Club 8, which is like a softer, sadder (!) version of St. Etienne. Edson’s Every Day, Every Second manages to pull of some spry orch-pop in the style of Sondre Lerche.

Another big must: Radio Dept. This is a bit more angelic and dreamy, more in the spirit of the mighty Sarah. They hit all the bases perfectly on the brief Pulling Our Weight EP. The Mary Onettes, who are starting to generate some buzz, do an astonishingly good update on Echo & The Bunnymen, and the Acid House Kings work the same kind of AM soft rock magic as The Free Design and my beloved La Buena Vida. And this is just a cursory glance — deep investigation will yield rich, sugary rewards.

And while I’m laying my baby-doll cards on the table: anyone who shares my affection for this kind of music needs to download the remarkable Ears Like Golden Bats by the Brooklyn group My Teenage Stride ASAP. The perfect combination of the Chills, the Bats, the Go-Betweens, the Verlaines and the Clean, Ears is as close to pop perfection as I’ve heard in a long time — it’s one of my favorite records of ’07 so far. I had the chance to interview lead Strider Jed Smith, and he proved just as wry and winning as his songs.