Danish alternative rock is like an innocence built from darkness, and you can easily taste both. It's perversely sweet, frequently cute, occasionally poetic and melodic. Beautiful but twisted. It doesn't deliberately draw on terrible things to give it's music that darkness and depth. Rather, it grows from it. Kind of like violets; something beautiful that only grows from the shadows.
Of course, this generalisation is made based on the few cds of an Aussie girl who probably hasn't had much exposure to Danish alternative rock. But just going through her alternative cds, it seems pretty obvious that there are huge regional differences in what comes out. For instance, her Scottish collection (okay, so this is limited to The Twilight Sad and Glasvegas) is similarly dark but more nostalgic. Her Aussie collection seems less dark and more playful, with a more backyard suburban feel (such as Jebediah). Bluebottle Kiss also has that suburban feel, but it also has strong coastal and suburban Sydney influences. America... I suspect I couldn't make massive generalisations about its alternative rock. Anyway, back to the Danish.
It's kind of hard to just describe the innocence and darkness. It's easier to just give examples. Take for instance Like paper cuts by Mew:
It's so pretty and strange and leaves you feeling something terrible has happened. Gorgeously disturbing. To make Kallie happy I'd better put a picture of Mew in.
There, now you can see her precious Jonas Bjerre.
If you want to use up more bandwith, also check out Human by Carpark North. The clip is really cool and cute but kind of disturbing. I like when the kid hits the desk at school.
Moi Caprice has awesome songs. They sound cute. They sound playful even. But they also have that little bit of sadness and darkness in them. It's like "the world has turned something innocent into something perverted, but we'll choose to hold into the innocence". Like in My girl you blush:
If we’re happy on a barstool,
we’ll buy the bar we’re in.
If we’re kicked out of every art school,
we’ll paint each other’s skin.
If your jokes prove you an arch fool,
I’ll love you with a grin...
And you'll blush,
you blush my girl
you blush.
Perhaps I should end here by mentioning another Danish band Kallie has started getting into. Kashmir. The title of this post comes from one of their songs, The cynic. Lyrics from another song, Ophelia, adequately sums up this whole theme of innocence in the darkness in Danish alternative rock.
Disappeared in the park
Left me probing in the dark
Put me off the path.
You're the pebble in my shoe
And the beauty in my view
Beaming through the glass.
Ophelia...you're falling out
Too tedious to talk about?
Insurmountable... always colourful.
I don't want to know
How you do what you do.
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