MANDO DIAO

MANDO DIAO
HURRICANE BAR (2005)
320 KBPS

Borrowing the Beatles' haircuts, the Kinks' mod guitar riffs and the Small Faces' ecstatic tambourine-shaking choruses, Mando Diao isn't exactly making the kind of great artistic strides one might expect from the likes of Bloc Party or the Arcade Fire. In fact, listening to the Swedish quartet's second album it's often hard to tell 2005 from 1965. But Mando Diao plies the well-worn maximum R&B formula on Hurricane Bar with so much excitement and enthusiasm, its creative shortcomings are easy to forgive. Singers Bjorn Dixgard and Gustaf Noren make great counterparts, especially on tracks like "God Knows" and "If I Leave You," where their vocals ricochet off each other and the rolling organs and punchy British Invasion rhythms. Credit also goes to producer Richard Rainey (U2's All That You Can't Keep Behind) for making the songs crackle. With the Libertines having fallen apart and Oasis nodding off, the time for Mando Diao's retro rock just might be now.

1. Cut The Rope
2. God Knows
3. Clean Town
4. Down In The Past
5. You Can't Steal My Love
6. Added Family
7. Annie's Angle
8. If I Leave You
9. Ringing Bells
10. This Dream Is Over
11. White Wall
12. All My Senses
13. Kingdom & Glory
14. Next To Be Lowered