Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There was a time when the lands that encompass the Nordic sphere of influence weren’t, with one notable exception, particularly noted for their music output or inspiration on the twin cultures of America and the U.K. Every genre was met with the kind of derision that you expect from arguably self-centred dominant crop of major artists.  Times change, spheres of influence move on, what was considered unattractive or just plain wrong can become the stuff of legends and as with Iceland, Norway, The Faroe Islands, Finland and Denmark, Sweden’s music has become something to savour, like the stunning landscapes that dwarf the fields, the lakes that capture the imagination, The Most are something to admire from a country that holds such things in the palm of its hands and nourishes them in a way that the U.K. at times seems to have forgotten.

For that very British music genre, art-form and lifestyle of The Mod to be subverted by a great band like The Most should be celebrated and enjoyed. Whether in the form of their 2013 album release Auto-Destructive Art, through their live performances or through the collection of E.P.s they released between 2007 and 2010, The Most are just a humdinger of a group to find.

Before there was Auto-Destructive Art, there was Face The Future, Moderation in Moderation and Resistance is Useless. Three great E.P.s in which to laugh at time from a distance and dream of the resurgence in the culture that never really went away, it just never seemed to have anybody new in which to champion the past great work laid down by the seminal artists of the genre.

The line-up over the course of the three E.P’s shifted and changed, they weren’t yet the band that they are now but they were close, and close is a good place to be when making music as good as you can find from an unexpected gifted corner.

Frans Perris, Magnus Kollberg, Mats Westin were at the heart of the band and whilst joined by Andy Bell and Marcus Holmberg, the nucleus is what feels as though is driving through the very early great promise. Tracks such as Money, Bad Girl and Now I Feel from Moderation in Moderation, I’m In Misery, Easy When You’re Down and Broham from Resistance Is Useless and The Action, Faking 18 and Stylish Boy from Face The Future rev the engine, the mirrors aligned and the look just right, all that was needed was the extra teak in which comes from making sure every stitch is as immaculate as they come.

Swedish music has grown over the last 30 years and The Most are very much part of that transition, Nordic music is cool, it just has to be looked for.

Ian D. Hall