The Radio Dept
| The Radio Dept. | |
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The Radio Dept.
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Lund, Sweden |
| Genres | Dream pop, Shoegazing |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Shelflife, Labrador |
| Website | theradiodept |
| Members | Johan Duncanson Martin Larsson Daniel Tjäder |
| Past members | Elin Almered Lisa Carlberg Per Blomgren Kim Sjölander Max Weiland Le Bombe Rugar |
The Radio Dept. is a dream pop band from Lund, Sweden signed to Labrador Records.
The band was conceived in 1995 by schoolmates Elin Almered and Johan Duncanson, who named the group after a gas-station-turned-radio-repair-shop called "Radioavdelningen" (Swedish for The Radio Department). However, Almered and Duncanson soon stopped playing music together, putting the band on hiatus. Then three years later, in 1998, Duncanson started making music again but now with Martin Larsson and they decided to adopt the same name. In 2001, Larsson's then girlfriend Lisa Carlberg joined the group on bass, followed by Per Blomgren on drums and Daniel Tjäder on keyboards.
Later in 2001, the band sent recordings to music magazine Sonic, receiving a positive review and being featured on the free CD sampler that came with the magazine. Labrador Records heard them on the disc and signed them to their label. Their debut album, "Lesser Matters", was well received by the music press, scoring 10 out of 10 in NME. Per Blomgren left the group prior to the release of this album and Lisa Carlberg departed after the release of This Past Week EP. According to their website, the band decided to use digital drum tracks and stated that for their second album they were "taking a new direction ... which wouldn't require a member that played bass guitar."
The group enjoyed a slightly more widespread recognition after three tracks ("Pulling Our Weight", "I Don't Like It Like This" and "Keen on Boys") were included on the soundtrack for Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette.
Early 2006 saw the release of their second album Pet Grief. The distorted buzz that adorned most of their debut was now replaced by synthesizer. The album didn't reach the rest of Europe, including the UK until later in 2006. Unfortunately, with little touring support there was no real buzz behind Pet Grief. Reviews were mixed. NME rated the album with a 7 out of 10, but other magazines were not quite so positive. However, it did find popularity amongst a growing fan base throughout the world, thanks to the internet. The album is available in the US through Darla and through their US distribution deal with Labrador.
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