If you didn't know
Blithewere from Sweden, you would never guess it. In fact, given that they're on Alias Records, you would probably guess they were from North Carolina. On their debut album
Head is Mighty, the band plays fairly straight-ahead American indie-rock, fairly similar to North Carolina bands like
Superchunk,
Small 23, and
Polvo. While on
Head is Mighty you can see the roots of the songwriting talent that would blossom on Verse Chorus Verse, most of the songs are fairly pedestrian and unmemorable, and Emil Odling's lyrics don't reach the sophistication of Verse Chorus Verse. There are some fairly good tunes on this album, however, including the driving, melodic "Hellstreet" and "Megababe." ~ Aaron Schatz