BWO – Europlop!

Saturday Flashback: BWO – Temple of Love

“A song that would get me right down on the dance floor, not even slightly caring what people think of me.”

Tim: So, for some reason I thought this had been very successful internationally, but then I checked the figures and apparently no – BWO have only had two charting hits over here, both of which peaked, rather nicely, at 69.

Tom: Nice.

Tim: This track wasn’t one of them, but it came a close second to Carola’s fabulous Evighet in Melodifestivalen 2006, and it is what the kids today call a PROPER BANGER.

Tom: I was going to say “tell me it’s a bit stronger than the Enyaesque track last week”, but it’s BWO, so it will be.

Tim: Right from the off we are heavy in on the dance beats, with a good vocal, colourful lights all over the place, dancing around everywhere, all reinforcing the idea that this is a song to be danced to, very physically. Hell, the title alone sounds really quite rude, and although I’m normally all in for that sort of thing this is meant to be a family show.

Tom: This is exactly what I expected, including the fact that it peaks far too early.

Tim: Right – thing is, it could easily have finished at the 2:37 mark. We’ve already had a middle eight and a final chorus, and if all you’re following it with is an instrumental second middle eight and another final chorus, is it necessary? Perhaps not musically, but performance-wise, given that we haven’t yet lit the flares by the walkway he uses at the end of it, yes, it is entirely necessary. This is, all in, a song that would get me right down on the dance floor, not even slightly caring what people think of me, and that’s really all I look for in a dance tune.

Tom: I mean, yes, I would dance to this, although it’s not something I’d put on a playlist.

Tim: Incidentally, on keyboards you may notice a certain Alexander Bard, perhaps better known as a member of the band Army of Lovers, but who has more recently ditched music and gone from synths to syntheism, a movement about how atheists can still feel as good as proper religious people do, or something. I dunno, he’s written a book about it.

Tom: If it doesn’t have a walkway with flares on it, I’m not interested.

Martin Rolinski – Blame It On A Decent Matter

Used to be in BWO, hasn’t gone in a remotely different direction.

Tim: This bloke used to be in BWO before they split, and unlike other former member Alexander Bard he hasn’t gone in a remotely different direction.

Tom: Ooh, then this promises to be very good indeed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zZMzsSxfEI

Tim: This pretty much has everything – trancey type intro indicating a, well, not quite summer floorfiller, but at least something to keep people on the floor late on a Friday night through to the early hours of Saturday morning, decent beat topping that up throughout the verses, and a good memorable chorus that we can all sing along to after only hearing it once.

Tom: I’m not getting the memorable singalong vibe from it, but otherwise I agree: it’s not a blockbuster hit, but it’d fit perfectly in the middle of a DJ set.

Tim: So why don’t I think it’s great? I mean, I like it, I’d have it on in the background, and it would keep me on the floor as described, but it doesn’t get me going like, say, Swedish House Mafia did.

Tom: Now, I think it’s because the chorus – despite your earlier comment – is just sort of meh. It’s more like an extra verse, really; it doesn’t have the hands-in-the-air moment you want from something like this.

Tim: Hmm, perhaps, but as a first solo single, it’s still not bad. Though actually, what the hell does ‘blame it on a decent matter’ actually mean?

Tom: I was hoping you could explain that.

Gravitonas – Religious

With a decent remix or two, this song could be really good.

Tim: This video, released a few days ago but only just up on YouTube, is of the second single by the band Gravitonas, and if you think it sounds familiar you’d be entirely correct – half of the band comes direct from BWO, who took a break about six months ago, and each of them is currently doing their own thing. One’s of them’s done proper heavy rock, another has moved in the opposite direction, whilst Alexander Bard (the terrifyingly beardy one) has pretty much stayed exactly where he was, whilst picking up a friend or two.

Anyway, yes it’s familiar. The instruments and the vocal style are all the same, and the pre-chorus melody is lifted straight from Kings of Tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad – like most of BWO’s stuff, it’s enjoyable, pleasant and entirely inoffensive. The only criticism I have is that while it’s got a fairly decent beat that grows throughout, for a song that’s about an enlightenment brought on by dance music (just go with it – it’s best not to think about it too much), that beat’s not nearly big enough. With a decent remix or two, though, this song could be really good.

Tom: The beat’s not big enough?! The beat’s bloody massive. I nearly had to turn down the bass on my headphones. It’s just it never quite kicks in properly. For me, there’s no big hands-in-the-air everybody-sing moment, which for a song about religious enlightenment (in whatever form) is a bit of a letdown. Yes, they’re trying for one when the final chorus kicks in, but the song’s melody is such that it’s hardly going to get everyone belting out the lyrics on the dance floor.

Also, “entirely inoffensive”?

I believe in the magic
Feel the heat of your skin
You can call me fanatic
I’m your soldier of sin

– is not exactly something I’d play to a priest.

Tim: You really think the beat’s huge? I just don’t think it builds up quite enough.

Tom: I’m not sure we have the same definition of ‘massive’. You’re absolutely right about the Kings of Tomorrow rip though.

Tim: The video starts off fairly weird, but soon progresses to disturbingly weird, and by the end of it I’m almost thinking KKK on acid, so probably the less said about that the better.

Saturday Flashback: BWO – Right Here Right Now

The lead singer’s wearing a lab coat in the video?

Tim: Swedish band, had a vague hit in the dance area over here a few years back with ‘Temple of Love‘.

Tom: So the lead singer’s wearing a lab coat in the video, and the album’s called “Big Science”? That sounds promising.

Tim: Yes, and for the most part it’s bloody awesome. And regarding the lead singer: he’s off of Sweden’s Popstars.

Tom:I’m actually finding very little wrong with this. Bit of a clichéd “talky bit in the middle before the bridge”, but it’s made up for by BEARDED BACKING SINGER.

Tim: Doesn’t he look absolutely terrifying? It’s amazing.

Tom: It’s even got a dum-dee-dee-da at the end! Hear this, Robyn? THIS is how “Dancing On My Own” should have been. It’s a textbook Swedish pop song, but there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not going to be stuck in my head or anything, but I’d be happy with this popping up on shuffle.

Tim: As an aside, that whole album‘s pretty good if you want to check it out at some point.

Time passes…

Tom: What the hell? With the exception of the main vocal line, Love Came Crashing Down is Beggin’. Either the Madcon version or the Frankie Valli version.

Tim: Just played them chorus after chorus, and yes, I concede a similarity. Not so much that it’s the same song, though, but yes there is quite a resemblance. The one thing that does really annoy me about the album, though, is the massive similarity between Singing in my Car and Kings of Tomorrow.