I Love Your Lifestyle
The Movie
Dog Nights Productions
Swedish five-piece I Love Your Lifestyle are a band whose name is being thrown around as part of the emo revival, but the truth is they are just a bunch of friends who thought it would be a laugh to hang out and play some catchy tunes along the way. Even though the individual band members may have discovered music through metal and punk, I Love Your Lifestyle have a mission statement that sees them cash in on the fun of American indie music and meld it with the melodic Swedish music tradition.
I Love Your Lifestyle hone in on the plight of the downtrodden and the hopeless throughout the sophomore album The Movie. The very first line: “Failing again, so many failures in a row,” sets the tone for a record that celebrates the awkward silences, sideward glances and the mundane of a typical week. Indoor Living is jaunty enough to wander well into power pop territory with a chorus that won’t quit, a healthy dose of “ba ba ba’s”, and plenty of sharp guitars.
Title track, The Movie has acoustic guitars, handclaps and Lukas Feurst showing a softer and sweeter side to his voice on a tune that would feel well at home on a Fountains Of Wayne record. The Party is a similarly downbeat moment with acoustic guitar, voice and lyrics such as “feelings, I remember when they used to have a meaning,” to drive home the general mood of the record. Perfect Life is a Feurst putting one foot in front of the other as he navigates the difficulty of everyday interactions, while still keeping a smile on his anxious face.
The Movie is the sound of a band wading through the societal malaise with their guitars and ear for a melody intact. Shifting from their punk rock beginnings to a more pop orientated framework has seen I Love Your Lifestyle put out their strongest set of tunes by a considerable margin.
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
