Thirdimension
- Protect Us From What
We Want
Sweden's
Thirdimension created one of the Best Albums Of The Year
back in 1998, yet almost no one outside Sweden
got a chance to hear it. It wasn't until last
year when a Swedish couple, Hanna and Michael (students at the nearby University
of Illinois and instant Parasol interns), brought by a CDR one day, said we'd
dig it, and were absolutely 100% correct. So, being completely smitten, and
hell-bent on finding a way to re-release the album, we
made another weird deal with Warner
Music Sweden to make this album available again for the USA, with a special
pressing provided by Warner for Hidden Agenda.
Welcome to the world of Dimensional Hi-Fi: Monolithic rock anthems, bigger-than-life
ballads, and tweaked guitar-pop epics, the Swedish music press compared them
with the Soundtrack of Our Lives, perhaps because the sound of 'Protect Us
From What We Want' had that same intensity and penchant for roaring sixties
psychedelia
and elemental prog orchestration as the Soundtrack's debut 'Welcome to the
Infant Freebase'. Thirdimension are equally adept at moving between different
genres
within their songs, seamless and satisfying. A majority of the songs are quite
mellow, full-on cinematic with an extra-large dynamic, which means the songs
that rock, when they rock, rock that much harder. For fans of The Soundtrack
Of Our Lives (channeling Beatles, Who, Pretty Things), Super Furry Animals,
David Bowie, Wannadies, Doves,
Warlocks…
"A sound well-versed in several chapters of rock history, but perhaps the
parts with Syd Barret's Pink Floyd or 'Hunky Dory'-era Bowie crammed a whole
lot more. It's not hard to make parallels with label-colleagues The Soundtrack
of Our Lives, partly thanks to Bjorn Stegmann's sometimes Ebbot-esque vocals,
partly because THIRDIMENSION, just like Soundtrack, has the ability to shoot
their well-kept influences straight into the late 90's. Often with the help of
generous amounts of crispy and chunky punk-guitar and excellent backing
vocals." (Håkan Steen for Aftonbladet)
"A collection of colossal, towering pop songs-the kind with violins and
cellos. You know, the sorts of impossibly grand song constructions that >went
of fashion in the late '60s. Fortunately, someone forgot to tell the group's
songwriter/vocalist, Bjorn Stegmann, who wrote all the lyrics and most of the
music for the album. Stegmann seems to have spent most of his youth in the bedroom
with an acoustic guitar dissecting the Beatles catalogue. These songs feature
very basic chord progressions, but are outfitted in regal attire by the band,
who ably flesh out the tracks with a seemingly endless array of instruments,
including moogs, zithers, organs, harmonicas, and, of course, electric guitars.
These flourishes are all perfectly situated within the context of the songs,
accentuating the strong underlying hooks. Some of the credit should also go to
[producer] Cristoffer Lundquist, who not only keeps the sonic tapestry from fraying,
but tempers the sugary string arrangements with just enough graininess to make
them palatable. But Thirdimension are not above a little garage-spirited rock
'n' roll either. When necessary, Thirdimension can strip it down to no less astonishing
effect. Both the opener, "If This World Could Only See", and "Other
Side of Town" fall into this more straight-ahead rock category-well, about
as "straight-ahead" as the songs on Super Furry Animals' acid-soaked
debut, Fuzzy Logic, which is to say they still feature plenty of nifty turns
and fits. "If This World Could Only See" opens with a traditional classic
rock riff, but nicely sidesteps boring retread status by incorporating a skittering
drum beat and psychedelic, oscillating guitar lines. "The Other Side of
Town", meanwhile, flies through the Who's early catalogue and lands smack
dab in the Nuggets garage-band compilations. But perhaps the band's crowning
achievement is "Lonely Road", which defies any easy categorization
or parallels. Suffice it to say that if Paul and John could hear it, they'd swear
they had come up with the melody themselves. It's that
unmistakably brilliant." (Jon Garrett for PopMatters)
 
  
 
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