Search - Cloudberry Jam :: Impossible Shuffle

Cloudberry Jam's last album of new material

ad_crumenam | Texas, USA | 02/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The breakup of Cloudberry Jam in the late 1990s was probably the worst thing to happen to Swedish indie. That's right, the band is Swedish, but they never sing in anything but English. The music has gotten progressively softer and more sophisticated over the years, and The Impossible Shuffle is the band's ultimate achievement. The band's sound is jazzy but not dull, fun and bouncy but not silly. There are obvious bossa nova influences, but the band's sound is indescribably unique. It really does defy description. It's pop, but it's not. It's jazz, but it's not. It's bossa nova, but it's not. The trading in of the band's crunchier guitars and organ riffs for a horn section and softer percussion makes for one of the best pop albums of the decade, and one of the best indie albums ever. This is not shoegazer pop. This is perfection. The band was big in Sweden and Japan, but they should have been big in America. It's such a shame that they never got the airplay they deserved."