In Swedish indie rock there has long been a trend of having singers that can’t sing. This trend got started with Broder Daniel. A band that write pop songs with the same musical skill as your average twelve year old. But because they (or at least the out of tune singer) were cute and cool they got wildly popular, and the trend got started, and often propagated by Broder Daniel members leaving the band an starting a solo career in singing badly.

It is in fact, much easier to become a respected indie talent in Sweden, if you suck. Case in point, new Swedish mainstream underground indie pop megastars Laakso.

Laakso does have a singer who mostly sings horribly out of tune with a whiny annoying voice. But sometimes he forgets himself, and sings in tune. Also, the songs are often pedestrian in quality, but with occasional bright sparks. But most of all, the lyrics are so pathetic, immature and stupidly bad that it must be intentional.

Maybe it’s a trick? Songs like their single “Västerbron” has decent chorus. But the verses are so pathetic that it’s really hard to not turn off. But if you succeed, the contrast between the stupefying low mark of “You look great…thanks!” means that the chorus comes as a huge relief, and you are immensly happy to no longer be in pain.

I’m starting to suspect that the guy can sing properly, but doesn’t want to just to make it sound better when he actually does sing in tune. And of course, the suspicions of intentional patheticness doesn’t exactly get lower when considering the fact that they used to be quite good. Check this from 2003, for example:

Notice the lack of suckage. He sings pretty much in tune, the English accent is suddenly much better, and the decent lyrics.

Sure, it’s often said that mainstream music is bad. But by that is usually meant bland, uninteresting and manufactured. Not so in Sweden. There you can more easily get a hit if you intentionally sing and play badly and wrote daft songs with kindergarten lyrics.

It’s a strange country. I’m happy I moved.