When

A storied veteran in Norwegian pop, Lars Pederson started at 11 working in a family group organized by his father and worked his way through Norwegian punk and metal circles before ending up as When, crafting sunshine psych-pop. The record's sunny exterior hides some bittersweet themes and dense arrangements; akin to Super Furry Animals' sample laden, Beatles channeling pop. Trippy Happy seems to have come out to quiet acclaim but the album churns out song after song of perfectly formed nuggets of sing-a-long lullabies for the E6 generation. Pederson and Rhys really need to get their act together and do a collaboration, because I'll be damned if they aren't long lost brothers channeling some sort of kindred cosmic pop radio wave that us unfortunate souls can only hear second hand through their music. Once again Pederson proves that perfect pop has to come with that Scandinavian tag, damn them and their blissfully tune-filled lives. Trippy Happy is out now on Jester Records.

Download:
[MP3] When -Serpent Rain
[MP3] When -Life is Shit, Sometimes Its Beautiful