July 22, 2013

The Knife - Shaking the Habitual (2013)



The Knife. Oh boy, The fucking Knife. You blew my mind when I was 13, angsty and my whole musical horizon consisted of The Beatles and a few dad rock bands. And you've blown my mind now, 7 years later.

Even though your band name sounds like a 19th century steampunk victorian bordello and your music can be at times overly pretentious and artsy, I still love you. You know why? When I heard your fucked up music for the first time, my 13 year old mind couldn't believe that such a thing could exist. It was different, creepy, weird, and the lineup consisted of TWO PEOPLE OH MY GOD REALLY AND ONE OF THEM'S A GIRL. Not that I was a sexist little prick, really, my mother taught me better than that. It's just that, back then, I strongly believed that a Swedish synthpop-experimental-mask-wearing-during-concerts-not-granting-any-interviews band was not the place for a girl to spend her youth. A school choir was a more exquisite and in good taste choice for a young female. Or the inside of my pantaloons.

But what made you so special, The Knife? How come I've chosen you, a weird synthpop Swedish band, over other more critically acclaimed bands like Linkin Park or Nickleback? After all, nobody at school has ever heard of you and your music is not really the one that a 13 year old would listen while sitting in a corner, crying like a little bitch, with the whole world against him, all alone; a dark Knight, a caped crusader. I dunno, really. But one thing I know for sure: you're the one who has, uhm, deflowered me. Musically. You're the first artsy-fartsy band in a long succession of artsy-fartsy bands that I both love and make me feel like a pretentious douche for liking. You're my first. First. You're more ''first'' than a YouTube comment that says ''first'', which is something, by the way. You've taught me a great lesson, and that is: always experiment. Try out new things, new bands, new sounds. Since then, I've been with loads a bands. I'm the dirty little musical slut that you always wished I would become some day. And all because of you, The Knife.

As for the rest of you, go check out their latest album, Shaking the Habitual. It's not their greatest work, but it's pretty cool, nonetheless. If you're looking for bands that discuss the Swedish government's dubious decision to lower taxes for the families who hire maids and can't find one, well, you're in luck today.




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