The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Fruit (2009)

Review By Lee-Gwyn

It is likely you have heard of The Asteroids Galaxy Tour without realising it.

Their breakthrough track Around the Bend has been circulating for the past year as one of the backing tracks in the series of iPod Touch commercials. One look and it isn't hard to see why it was chosen.

Quirky European charm? Check.

Ridiculously catchy beats? Check.

Cute as a pixie lead singer in the form of the adorable Mette Lindberg? Check.

The Danish band’s debut album Fruit looks to extend their early success, and prolong the rhythms and general happy-making that made them gain popularity in the first place.

With their swinging beats, opening tracks Lady Jesus and The Sun Ain’t Shining No More have strong psychedelic waves and capitalise on Lindberg’s child-like vocals with charming 1970s sensibilities. For some reason the whole thing reminds me very strongly of Serena, Samantha’s mischievous, rocking cousin from the TV show Bewitched.

It sent my mind whizzing back to when I was a kid watching the show after school, which isn’t really a bad thing.

However, subtle flourishes in the bass guitar lines for tracks like Bad Fever bear similar signatures to the visionary track Clint Eastwood by Gorillaz, showing the bands versatility at stringing together decades of influences. Following tracks feature heavy sprinklings of Rasmus Valldorf’s muffled bass drum lines and the trademark horn sections that make Around the Bend so distinctive.

And this will surely please the number of people who only checked out the album for that one song. Yes, including me.

The tempo steps back briefly for Crazy and Hero and producer/principle songwriter Lars Iverson’s lyrics get a whole heap more reflective, making them ideal songs for recovery Sundays and other events involving general laziness. If there’s any complaint to be made against the album, it’s the minimal variation of moods that the tracks generate.

There is really only two vibes: laid back, and even more laid back. But The Asteroids Galaxy Tour does these moods so well that repeated listenings are neither boring nor repetitive.

Album closer, a cover of the Marvin Gaye track Inner City Blues, successfully rounds out what the whole album is about – drawing on the influences of past greats and revamping it to create a soundtrack for good times.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

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