Existensminimum - Ok boys
(Novoton)

On this album there is a dark, all-too-understanding awareness of the minor tragedies that, despite their relative insignificance, leave their mark on us, possibly for life -- an understanding and mood I've really only ever found before on Markus Krunegård's solo effort. Both Krunegård and Magnus Henriksson (the mastermind of Existensminimum) propose similar answers, too -- get out of the house, onto a bus, and into a bar; it may not change a thing, but at least you're not alone. Accordingly, the thematic landscape of "OK boys" is matched by a dark, cruelly detached, and vulnerable lexicon of musical expression: on "Fugelsang", Henriksson channels his inner Bowie ("They'll send me off to space...") over the droning, lost guitar lines of the chorus; "Signs of human life" has a slight Phil Spector, 60s pop feel to its demure arrangement; "1993" staccato-stabs its way through the account of a life spent trying to find meaning through chemically-saturated escapism; and closer "Messin' up" adopts a Lovekevins-style pop vehicle with which to voice its final, lavishly cynical pronouncement. There is a touch of sub-genre-schizophrenia on here, but this very minor flaw is only noticeable when you skip around the album; as a fluid whole, "OK boys" ebbs and flows, but never quite jumps the banks. By the time you're a few songs in, you wouldn't care whether Henriksson went completely off the rails or not, just as long as he took you with him.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson