Wake The President -‘Zumutung!’ (We Can Still Picnic)
Second albums are notoriously difficult affairs. You have to build on the template of your first album so that you’re not repeating yourself -and yet make sure that you don’t loose sight of what made people interested in you in the first place. I’ve championed Wake Te President for a number of years now, the band lead by twins Erik and Bjorn Sandberg, since I first saw them supporting Emma Pollock at the tail end of 2007.
Whilst this isn’t immediate as their debut You Can’t Change That Boy, repeated listens over the last few months since this dropped on the doormat at 17 Seconds have shown it to be an album with more facets than their debut. Yes, they still proudly wear their love of Postcard-era Scots Indie-pop on their sleeves, but the template is shifting. There’s a dreamier quality to parts of this album (no, not in the sense of being shorthand for shoegazing!) as best demonstrated by closing – and standout track ‘Stockholm’s Archipelago.’ But there’s also a more anthemic quality to the songs shining through, like on first single ‘Elaine’ and album opener ‘She Fell Into My Arms.’
The brothers Sandberg have been much involved in record releasing for other acts and events in and around Glasgow, they show truly here that they are up there with the best of the acts they are working with.
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Zumutung! is available to download now and released physically on November 7.
She Fell into my Arms by Wake the President
Elaine (1st 7″ single from the new album) by Wake the President