I Was A King’s Old Friends opens with the cacophonic, horn-infected rush like something from the punk-country Brakes sent through the storm of Sufjan & the Sounds Familyre Gang orchestrations. But then “The Wylde Boys” calms down into a pop song that still glitters with that cacophony. And so the stage is set the Norwegian group’s foray into art-folk-pop that rings with plenty of indie vibe, garage sweetness, and orchestrated turns, assisted by Daniel C. Smith’s (Danielson) production and horn arrangements by Joshua Stamper and John Ringhofer (Half-handed Cloud).
“Echoes” resonates with psychedelic charm even as it pushes its way into your hip-shaking tendencies. A wavering saw blade accompanies the acoustic, folk psychedelics leading into “Learning to Fly.” “Nightwalking” feels as if culled from the Soft Boys/Robyn Hitchcock with an added horn section until the song pulls back for the choral-like sections as if the Polyphonic Spree stepped in.
Then again you might also hear Emmit Rhodes’ influence on IWAK. I first heard about Emmit Rhodes through the music of Ringhofer; Rhodes is a spot-on extension of the Beatles and Paul McCartney. IWAK shows some Beatlesque/Rhodesian turns on the upbeat “Someone is Waiting,” almost an echo of Rhodes’ “Somebody Made for Me.”
The piano/guitar play against horns on “Daybreak,” making the sun’s appearance a start-and-stop affair as one emerges from the dream world to face the day’s rush and push. Old Friends closes with the title track, an acoustic-laden, Teenage Fanclub-type feel, as the Byrdsian 70’s harmonize in the air. It’s a gentle closeout of an album that started with such cacophony, like finding a hammock to lie in after a very good dance around the yard.
Old Friends will be released on January 25.
