The Real Music

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The Radio Dept. are a trio from Sweden that formed in 1995. Despite their nearly 17 year stint, they've only released three studio albums and a handful of singles and EPs, the earliest of which date back to 2002. Their consistent use of lo-fi sounds and layered song structure is an interesting concept that most bands don't attempt . Thanks to this technique, it doesn't matter if it's 2002 or 2010, it all sounds the same.

Clinging to a Scheme is the band's third studio album, and admittedly the first I expressed any interest in. I was in a slump a couple of years ago after discovering shoegaze, a genre that would forever alter my opinions on music. After hearing all of the greats from when the genre was new during the late 80s through most of the 90s, I became depressed that I had missed the music scene that I had grown to love to dearly. I desperately tried to find modern shoegaze that wasn't just a cheap emulation of what the scene was, and what I found was Clinging to a Scheme.

The intro track, "Domestic Scene", really sets the melancholic mood that's present throughout the whole record, only pausing momentarily on the two tracks "Heaven's on Fire" and "This Time Around" to switch to a more fulfilling felling. The band seems to have taken the distinct sound that defines the classic Loveless, and expanded upon it. The song "The Video Dept." uses the 'wall of sound' technique perfectly to create the feeling of nostalgia that any veteran shoegazer knows and loves.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Clinging to a Scheme, despite its superiority to about 90% of music today (it's a rough estimate, leave me alone!), isn't the most well-known album. However, I believe that this album is essential to anybody who loves shoegaze, and is a great example of how genres can change over time and adapt to survive, and in this case, thrive. 

B. W. Everett, 13/07/12