A few months back, Swedish rockers AstroMike Gordon wowed me with “Youthful Spite“, a track that – as I wrote – enjoyably collided the jangly guitar-pop of The Housemartins with David Bowie’s spacey ambition and David Byrne’s idiosyncratically melodic vocals. These elements were at play, but there was also a crisp power-pop note to AstroMike Gordon’s sound that affirmed they would likely be able to juggle ambition with immediate accessibility. With a new track in the excellent “Ministry Song”, they are continuing to showcase the ability to create marvelously infectious rock tracks with a unique jangle.
Led by the eccentric croon of Cristoffer Csanady, which crosses the unique melodic appeal of David Byrne with the amiable tone of Jonathan Richman, AstroMike Gordon’s latest single – “Ministry Song” – shows the Swedish quartet in full stride. The band will release their new full-length on June 7th. “Ministry Song” is one of several album highlights, in addition to “Youthful Spite” and the also-great “I’m An Astronaut“. Csanady nails it on them all, but “Ministry Song” is perhaps the most sonorous example of his lead. He isn’t the type of vocalist to hold things back dependent on verse or chorus, and that makes for a ceaselessly exciting sound that grows in intensity as “Ministry Song” progresses. By the end, when Csanady is emitting a near-operatic wordless croon, the band’s talents are blatantly apparent — if they weren’t already.
AstroMike Gordon’s new album looks to be one of the most promising of 2014. They’re pretty fantastic live too, as can be seen in the live performance of “Ministry Song” below:
