While Swedish indie rock project
Last Days of April gradually shifted its sound over the years from its 1990s emo/hardcore origins to more reflective, college rock-evoking pop forms, the band's songs never lost the raw, passionate stamp of singer and songwriter
Karl Larsson. At the same time that it returns the rhythm section from 2015's alternative country-rock diversion
Sea of Clouds,
Last Days of April's tenth studio album,
Even the Good Days Are Bad, operates much like a continuation of the alternative singer/songwriter trajectory
Larsson established with 2010's Gooey, which was essentially a solo album. Sporting a fragile, idiosyncratic rock voice and amphitheater-sized melodic instincts, he delivers a cathartic eight-track set of buzzy, bittersweet tunes. Building tension in the opening seconds with sustained, echoing guitar tones and escalating noise effects, "Even the Good Days Are Bad" soon launches into orchestral-fuzz melodic unison over a midtempo rock groove that finds
Larsson repeatedly wondering, "Is it worth it? I don't know." He continues to reflect on past decisions, the passage of time, and the state of life in existential fashion through a series of hooky, head-bobbing tracks that have him checking his phone to see if anyone's trying to get in touch and realizing "It's been so long since I've had some fun." Songs like "Turbulence" and punky earworm "Alone" dial up the distortion a notch without ever forsaking tunefulness. Approximating
Fleetwood Mac more than guitar pop, the "Dreams"-esque "Downer" closes the album with an eight-plus-minute, self-aware outlier that stresses "Some things never change" amidst more sticky melodic phrases. ~ Marcy Donelson