The Radio Dept at The Troubadour - Los Angeles CA 5.26.11

By Mary Broome

Sweden’s The Radio Dept. opened their one-hour set at the Troubadour with my favorite song. Like many tracks by the indie dream pop trio, “A Token Of Gratitude” (off their latest LP Clinging To A Scheme) is a stunning treatise on love and a good indication of what would follow suit: “Do I love you? Yes, I love you, but easy come easy go...”

The Radio Dept - A Token Of Gratitude

I remember when I first heard The Radio Dept., during the miserably hot summer of 2006. I was studying in France and attended a screening of Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. Three of their songs are featured on the soundtrack: “Pulling Our Weight,” “Keen On Boys,” and “I Don’t Like It Like This.” To my senses, the Radio Dept.’s music serves as the perfect representation of old converging with new, mirroring Marie Antoinette’s legacy and Coppola’s vision for the film.

Taking cues from influences like Nick Drake and Joy Division, The Radio Dept. breathes new life into a sound that evokes both fuzzy memories of my 80s childhood, and cinematic moments at high school dances. I wasn’t a wallflower as a teenager but felt like one at this show, alone in a packed crowd full of swooning couples. The band played songs to sway to, like “Lost and Found,” “This Past Week” and “The Worst Taste In Music,” yet they settled into their groove during “David,” the most surprising track on the new record. When the synthy haze settled, “David” delivered hip-hop beats over Johan Duncanson’s underwater vocals, offering itself as a superb blend of new wave doo-wop genius.

Just before they launched into closer “Heaven’s On Fire,” the Troubadour crowd was screaming. You know, the kind of wailing that kids did for The Beatles’ on their American tour. I haven’t heard that type of feedback at a concert in the four years I’ve lived in LA. “It’s never like this in Sweden. Maybe we should move here,” Duncanson said. Yes, please.