One of the buzz bands of this year's International Pop Overthrow festival, this Norwegian quintet played loud, jangly Byrds/Teenage Fanclub with a great deal of gusto, aided by a great use of dynamics.  This disc does not show off the more powerful side of the band, though the guitar sound and melodic sense is thankfully unchanged. American Suitcase shows the potential to be one of the best bands purveying this style. Clever lyrics, pleasant harmonies, great guitar arrangements,  and a wispiness that sometimes reminds me of Shoes (would be interested to hear them cover one of their tunes) are present on most of the tracks.  This unbeatable combination is best displayed on "AOR", where the protagonist can't stand his lady's music (The Eagles and Styx), but loves her looks leading to this conclusion: "She's the antithesis of my imaginary love/I'm attracted to a girl who's got it all wrong".  Not every track on the disc is great, but the music is so breezy that this is an easy listen.  If American Suitcase can blend in more of their live power onto their next disc, they will be something really special.
MIKE BENNETT (7.5)
 
 

On BLUEFOOT American Suitcase present us with a a dose of sugar coated, guitar jangling pop. The first thing that strikes you is that for a Norweigian band they sound very...Welsh. The vocals on several of the tracks could easily have been produced by the dulcet tones of the Super Furries Gryff or Gorky's Euros. This of course is not a bad thing as both are extremely good bands, it's just all a bit surprising, in fact the complete sound, in parts, is very similar to that of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. All the tracks are pretty snappy, short and to the point. They get going very quickly, find their place, deliver some catchy melodies and are over almost too soon. "Bullet" the opening track and one of the most breezy on the album is an excellent example. The chorus's are all very animated with lots of vocal harmonies and this is where each track on the album really comes alive. The one track on which this is not the case is the disappointing "Millenium Man". The man in question being golfer Tiger Woods, and endless repetition of his name does nothing to bolster one of the weakest tunes on the album. American Suitcase do nothing wrong on this album, but then again there isn't really anything on here that is different or new. Nevertheless BLUEFOOT  is an enjoyable listen.
GARETH GETVOLDSEN (6)
 

American Suitcase: www.americansuitcase.com
 

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