Review Summary: They haven't completely found their solid ground yet, but The Knife proves to be an enjoyable album from an interesting band.
The Knife is a very interesting artist to me; something just pulls me in to listen to them repetitively, no matter how many times I've listened to their songs. Now it could just be that they play music that is different from what I usually listen to, and that they are a Swedish group who dislike the mainstream music machine, but somethings just alluring about the music they play. Fronted by it's 2 members, brother and sister team Olof and Karin Dreijer, the band's electronic sound is done entirely on their laptop to present a rather interesting debut.
I'll be honest, I've grown as an increasingly die-hard fan of The Knife, but I won't let bias obstruct things. The overall mood of this album is conveyed fine between each track, though nothing ever has a particularly excellent point. Starting off the track, for example, is "Neon", and while it has some particularly charming moments, such as the whirling, bubbly intro, the track doesn't ever quite "explode" in a harmonious, classy manner (much like their later work). Many of this album's tracks keep a similar feel, with great little parts but scarce thrilling parts.
Little parts they do, for example, include bouncy rhythms to accompany lush, colorful music. "Zapata", a somewhat instrumental track, plays all kinds of tricks with The Knife's electronic sound and uses Karin's vocals as part of the instrumentals rather than for the lyrics. For the most part, Karin's voice compliments the music well to create a unique and charming feel, though it feels iffy in parts of "Reindeer", "Bird", and "I Take Time". "Parade" is probably the album's highlight, with very catchy melodies, a dance-able, marching rhythm, and cheerful vocals and lyrics. "N.Y. Hotel" stands as the acoustic ballad (surprise for the genre), utilizing some cold computer sounds to fit the song's atmosphere with some somber, albeit simple, lyrics. Not as enthralling as the albums other moody song, "I Just Had To Die", which isn't so much sad as it is remorseful, but keeps a crafty, fitting riff pulsing through the song.
"Lasagna" has a heavy air to it, not the "heavy" used to describe hard rock music, but a crawling, chilling type of air. Tagged with lyrics about "making lasagna with Mia above the clouds", the vocals in the chorus sound hopeful, despite the lyrics being darker than the rest of the song, which makes for a very good, well-crafted song. The Knife spice things up in "Kino", which adopts a unique Asian feeling, and serves as a great mood-lifter from "Lasagna". The man behind the intrumentals of this team, Olof, lends his voice on "A Lung", and his voice is simply grating. His accent obviously fits with his sister's, but alone Olof can't chime a note quite nearly as good. This doesn't quite ruin the song, which is otherwise not bad, and luckily this will be his only appearance on this record.
Overall, the album takes a very loungey feeling to it. While jumpier songs like "Kino" and "Parade" kick things up a bit, songs are by no means fast tempo and sometimes unintentionally relax me. There are few songs with that "thrilling" moment, but it's good music nonetheless. So despite some shortcomings, this albums still holds its own and works as a solid debut for The Knife. It doesn't quite compare to their later works "Deep Cuts" and, espescially, the sublime "Silent Shout", but there are enough good tracks to attract fans of the artist indefinately. They haven't completely found their solid ground yet, but The Knife proves to be an enjoyable album from an interesting band.
