Caesars "Paper Tigers" (Astralwerks)
By Emily Trinks
Wednesday. Jun 15, 1:40 AM
Uneven, despite that damn catchy iPod theme.

Even though you are probably not aware of this, you know Swedish popsters Caesars and either love them or hate them. No in between.

Because of the marketing geniuses at Apple, you know and probably love “Jerk it Out” (catchy song, awful, awful name) from the recent iPod Shuffle adverts. You know, the green one. You know, the one with that vaguely moddish song…

“Wind me up, put me down, start me up, and watch me go...”

Ah yes, the wave of recognition. Followed by embarrassment. But it’s okay: that’s why the advertising folks make the big bucks and why Apple’s stock has gone through the roof since they launched the iPod. I’ll even be the first to admit it: I even loved “Are You Gonna be My Girl” before I realized it was Jet.

Caesars’ latest release, Paper Tigers, is a different story. Aside from a sometime mid-‘60s vibe, Paper Tigers is nothing like “Jerk it Out” This, of course, is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because any band who made an album of smug, derivative, marketable “garage rock” would find themselves on the short list of artists who unarguably merit universal derision and scorn (ref: Jet). A curse because it’s hard to figure out how these 13 songs fit together.

At their best, Caesars are Animal House-style “party” music. It’s a retro house-band vibe: the band that plays at the beach-themed frat party and gives the scene a rockin’ clambake feel. They could pass for mildly psychedelic outtakes from the Pebbles / Nuggets collection (Scandinavian volume, of course). Not quite Beatle-mania, but the second wave of the British Invasion. How about The Spencer Davis Group?

At worst, it’s hokey, overly earnest power pop with laughingly bad lyrics. “I, I need some young blood?” “It’s not the fall that hurts / it’s when you hit the ground?” “It took a long time / but you finally wore out your smile?” “I can’t go on without you / so don’t be too long / cuz my heart ain’t strong?” Please! I know they learned English before they could walk, so I can’t believe that something got lost in the translation.

After having a college roommate who stood in front of me and literally said, “you know, love, life, it really is ironic… doncha think?” with the kind of gravitas one usually reserves for a confessional, bad lyrics are a particularly sore spot for me. I never want to be unwittingly singing along and all of a sudden realize that I’m singing ridiculously stupid stuff. I can see her standing there, combing out her wet hair, “You know, Emily, it really isn’t the fall that hurts, it’s when you hit the ground. Wow. That’s so true.”

Overall, Paper Tigers is uneven. It’s like an unsettling smorgasbord of Scandinavian indie pop/rock. A bit of The Raveonettes with those sweet, sunny summer love songs? Check. Some of The Hives with their cheeky garage sensibilities? Check. The Soundtrack Of Our Lives’ sweeping ‘70s wall of sound? Just a taste. Oh, that’s plenty. Shout Out Louds’ whistling-along poppiness? We’ll take two, please. Stylized “modern punk” a la The Sounds? Thanks, that’ll do nicely.

While it sounds like an alright idea, you realize afterward that you don’t really like this fusion stuff anyways, so it’s best that you filled up on bread.
www.caesarsweb.com
www.astralwerks.com

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Emily Trinks

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