David And The Citizens’ full length LP, Until The Sadness Is Gone, includes two of the songs that appeared on their selt-titled EP – the Beulah infused Bruce Springsteen track, “Graycoated Morning,” and the California Pop of “Let’s Not Fall Apart.” The title of this album might be a little deceiving. Until The Sadness Is Gone sounds a little like a collection of unreleased Elliott Smith songs. However, this is a collection of pretty upbeat pop songs. There are a few “dark” moments, but even then it still sounds as though David Fridlund, the Swedish songwriter behind David And The Citizens, is trying hard to sound a little sadder than he really is. The result is pretty darn good and the album is pretty consistent. It’s not an album that needs a lot of poking and prodding, as it’s basically just a very good pop record.
The album starts with “The End” (har har), which sounds something like a pop spaghetti western. A rolling drum beat, a western guitar line, and harmonized vocals finally erupt into something that could have been on a Devotchka album. It’s much more tame than anything that Devotchka ever did, but it somehow captures that flying trapeze artist in a rodeo effect.
The rest of the album has a few gems that sneak up behind you. Fridlund’s voice might take a listen or two to get used to as it is very Top 40 radio pop-punky, but the music lifts it out of that genre and right into this mix of The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle and… Ben Folds? “Never A Bottom” is a soaring ballad, “Sore Feet + Blisters” is a quiet acoustic lament, and “Silverjacketgirl” is pure rock explosion. God, that song must have been fun to record. I imagine Fridlund jumping and up and down and making love to a mic stand the way Tina Turner used to. Maybe not.
