A sweet lullaby.  That’s the best expression for the music of Kuryakin.  While browsing around I came accross these guys and it’s definitely music to have with you.  This swedish group combine the multilevel of structure, electronic music provides, with guitars and effects.  It is fair to say that they have a spacial pop sound to them, with lots of reverb and delays on the strings.  The beats are simple and mellow and are background to all the instrumentation programmed and the vocals of Petter and Johan. 

The story of this two guys is nothing we haven’t heard before.  College students that meet, have things in common and in 2003 start creating music under the name Kuryakin.  Fast forward to 2007 when they release the Still Here EP under Shelflife Records, which I must say is a great EP with seven great tunes.  The vibe they have reminds me of a hybrid between Kings of Convenience with Plus Minus, which I must say is quite a combination, but it’s not a copycat sound.  They have merits to stand on their own sounding escapism.

Songs worth paying attention to include “Take My Hand“, which starts with a very xylophonic intro and a broken beat set, followed by reverbed vocals.  A Magical way to kick in a suave poppish indie kinda mellow vibe…you get the point.  The song “Still Here” has a more traditional electro pop vibe, and a nice beat to drive around on a sunny day near the coast, at least that’s what I’m picturing in my head while typing inside my cold gray cubicle.  Then we go to “Peace Of Mind” a longer song but the game play between guitars and programming is sublime.  One could think that it’s just one long song with pauses this EP, specially the way they carry the vocals, but if you like it, like I’m liking it, if you are in the mood for it (like it happens to me with groups like Camera Obscura and Stereolab) well, you’ll be glad you found this little jewel from up above in the northern european section of awesome indie POP.

 http://www.myspace.com/kuryakinmusic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9xq6-24D9w&feature=related
Video (Live) for Onie from Still Here EP