Heartbreak Basement

Heartbreak Basement "Too Plain to Be a Friend" (cd, Poor Records, 2001)The legendary (not just in a cult sense) Copenhagen lo-fi rock band (duo) Heartbreak Basement have a MySpace page. I'm not sure whether or not that means HB are active in "the studio" again (geographical differences have meant no new material since 2001; they did donate the song "Darker Every Day" to BSBTA's E.P. Club in August of 2003 - albeit a song recorded in 1998)...Meanwhile, Heartbreak Basement's shortest, and possibly most cohesive album, "Too Plain to Be a Friend" is a groovy place to start (the band has three other albums, plus a few singles - all of which hard to find, to say the least). First of all, "Too Plain..." is a sublime excursion into home (or basement) recording. The songs themselves are pretty eerie, even demented (I can't decide if some of the vocals were altered in pitch) and actually rather British sounding (despite the duo's own inspirations being of the American variety). While there are hints of Joy Division-esque basslines, Slowdive-esque dreamy-ness, Stone Roses-esque druggy-ness (I sure have a way with words), and a take on Jesus & Mary Chain's "Take It", no British (or Irish or Scottish) band has ever really sounded like this dynamic Danish duo. I'd go as far to say that no band in the World has ever sounded like Heartbreak Basement (and I say this without having heard every band in the World).HB's trademark drum machine, laid back (at times hip hop-influenced) tempos, scratchy guitar(s), and vocals that sound like (I'm quoting a radio journalist here) the singers are standing two metres away from the microphone, grace "Too Plain...". This piece of voice-as-an-instrument phenomena is especially well illustrated on the aforementioned J&MC song, as well as on the album's hit single "Shot By a Devil" and "Greece Beach" (a re-recording of an earlier hit song). In other areas, the recordings - several which were done on a multi(!) track machine - are warm and dry. Many of the finest lo-fi pop / indie rock songs of the ´90s were warm and dry.The awesomely harmonious keyboard-driven "My Ballony Hell" (perhaps Bologne? but oh my, that keyboard! - this song is definitely air keyboard-worthy), and the album's loudest rocker, "Behind You, Hysterical" also deserve mention. Any album that puts me in a good mood deserves mention.Christian Kann, BSBTA.com