Scandanavians For Office

OK, OK, I know what you're going to say. "Another Scandanavian band?!?!" And, of course, the answer is yes, because like it or not, those crazy one-time-Vikings are making some damn fine music these days, narrowly beating out Canada recently as the top country of origin for today's best indie pop music. Or we're just trying our best to get Lykke Li on Ron Paul's ticket as the best VP alternative to Palin and Biden. You can make the call there.

That discussion aside, let's now focus on Soda Fountain Rag, the brain child of Ragnhild Hogstad Jordahl, Bergen, Norway's latest export of twee-tinged indie pop goodness. Her newest release, It's Rag Time!, fuses a number of different styles and sounds with sparse instrumentation and odd lyrics to create tunes that could well get your shoegazing toes a' tapping. "Angry Girl" uses that spooky calliope sound of which I'm so fond, and "Don't Kill the Clowns" deserves recognition for it's title alone.

I suppose the only remaining question about Jordahl's background that any of us need worry about is what her stances are on hockey moms and gas prices.

mp3: Don't Kill The Clowns