The Last Days of August

Sweden's Labrador Records is, in the manner of great indie labels of the past like Factory, Creation, and Sarah, completely incestuous, with members of all of the label's bands helping out on each others' records. For example, the debut album by Airliner finds Kristian Rosengren, the non-singing guitarist from jangle-poppers Aerospace, doing a side project produced by Johan Angergard, one-half of the sublime indie-dance duo Club 8. The results sound like neither man's usual output, which makes Airliner a success right off the bat on a conceptual level: why do a solo album on the side that sounds just like every thing else in your catalog? The guiding spirit of The Last Days of August is clearly Nick Drake; Rosengren's close-miked, hushed vocals, and folkily strummed acoustic guitar is at front and center of each of these ten songs. In fact, many songs, like the anguished "One Final Call," sound like they were recorded as solo voice and guitar takes with Angergard's electronic filigrees blended in later. Somber without being depressing, and not without moments of lightness and beauty like the dreamy title track, The Last Days of August is, it must be said, better than Aerospace's records. Sometimes, side projects should take precedence.