- wonderful cover-art, isn’t it?

Sweden’s Pascal is like a Nordic Jesus and Mary Chain, – rough, unpolished and lo-fi. But where the Reid-brothers seemed to hide behind their dark sunglasses and "I don’t care" attitude, Mimmi, Manuela and Isak‘s music in Pascal is filled with feelings and personal stories. Sometimes it is love, love, love, and other times it really gets dirty, destructive and angry.

I started my love affair with this band just before they released their first album "Förbi Fabriken" in 2006, – a lovely and refreshing album that has left a mark on me. The song that made me aware of the band, was their brilliant cover of Bruce Springsteen‘s "Hungry Heart", sung in Swedish and titled "Hungrigt Hjärta".
On January 23, Pascal will release their sophomore album "Galgeberget" on the fine Novoton records. I’m always a bit afraid to be disappointed when a band I love release their second album,  -  I’ve experienced that too many times. Pascal doesn’t disappoint at all. I still get "that feeling", the one you just can’t describe, but it feels so good when I listen to Pascal’s music. It’s not possible to avoid being touched in some ways by their attitude. Isak and Manuela sings their hearts out, and I feel they are giving me something really precious right through the speakers. It’s been some years since I felt an urge to jump around while listening to music, but Pascal gives me a lot of the same feelings inside as I got when I first heard The Pixies’ "Debaser" for the first time. This is music for the whole body.

[rating:5/6]

I will give you their new single "Längtar efter dig" (Longing for you) here, and you can head over to the band’s myspace-page and grab a few of the other songs on the album, which they have for download there. The Springsteen-cover + two songs from their debut album is available for download on the band’s website.

Now, let’s hear some music:

Pascal – Längtar efter Dig

The music of Pascal can be bought from their label Novoton’s own mp3 shop.

I rarely put up two pictures in the same post, but I just have to this time. To me, this live photo of Isak and Mimmi shows several of the many-sided elements of Pascal.