El Perro Del Mar
Issue #30
El Perro Del Mar (The Control Group)
By Jennifer Li
Published: December 1st, 2006 | 12:00am
Sweden boasts a great number of talented musicians lately. Web sites like Hello Surprise (hellosurprise.com) and Swedes Please (swedesplease.blogspot.com) would have you thinking that Sweden’s entire population is writing and recording music. El Perro Del Mar (translation: the Sea Dog), the nom de plume of singer-songwriter Sarah Assbring, has quietly been stirring up interest in her home country and abroad with several EPs and a split 7-inch with fellow Swede Jens Lekman. Channeling ’60s girl groups and mixing in some ’50s pop sensibility, El Perro Del Mar writes devastating breakup songs with a clarity that the heartbroken usually don’t possess.
Sure El Perro Del Mar errs on the side of sweet melancholy, but it’s backed with a luscious Phil Spector–esque Wall of Sound. Songs are complete with retro harmonies, delicate vocals, and plenty of “sha la la la”s. Assbring concentrates on making the minimal sound the most in songs like “God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)” and “I Can’t Talk About It.” They have you positively wondering who the madman behind the controls is. Stark with striking lyrics, the songs about loneliness focus on the best way to emphasize the emotion by using very little to make you feel a lot. The album ends with a gorgeous cover of Brenda Lee’s “Here Comes that Feeling,” complete with a little Sam Cooke mixed in for more gut-wrenching effect.
The blues have never been bluer and El Perro Del Mar knows exactly where it hurts.
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