Results tagged “jenslekman”

With dear, sweet Jens Lekman in town for a two-night stand at the Croc, you'd think it'd be easy to find a way to see him one of those dates. But no! Jens has some serious live music competition. Thursday night at the Showbox, there's an all-ages show with Metric, starring the lovely and talented Emily Haines. It's sold out, but as always, where there's a will, there's a Craigslist posting. And then Friday night you've got the tough call of Jens or Handsome Furs at Neumo's, the husband-wife duo featuring Dan "Jimmy Legs" Boeckner from Wolf Parade. Bad timing for Jens, but good timing for the rest of Seattle.

Jens Lekman just makes us happy. Last night at Neumo's, the sweet Swede gave a joyful pop performance, not too different from his show last fall, except now his all-girl backing band is smaller--only four members, two of which (including opener, My Brightest Diamond's Marla Hansen) are actually from the States--and this time around everyone was in grey instead of white. The only other dude on stage, Viktor Per Sjöberg, mans the laptop and other effects, in order to slip in samples like the Chairmen of the Board's "Give Me Just a Little More Time" during "The Opposite of Hallelujah."

As previously mentioned, Les Savy Fav play Neumo's tonight. If the idea of a pregnant dude spitting water on you doesn't quite float your boat, head to the Croc to check out Cave Singers and Fleet Foxes. Tonight is also a free-free-free hip hop show at the War Room with Bun B and Swizz Beatz, care of the redundantly good people at Goods and Zune. Show up early; the last event like this, with Clipse...

Were we a closeted German lesbian, we’d totally bring Jens Lekman home to Daddy. The fair-haired, fey-mannered 26-year-old Swedish songsmith could definitely play the part of doting boyfriend, while his self-deprecating shy charm and boyish good looks would overwhelm any parental attempts to suss out the real nature of our relationship. To that end, during last night’s sold-out show at Nectar, Jens introduced "A Postcard to Nina" with the true story behind the song, in which his gay penpal in Berlin ambushed him into being her beard (or merkin, if you prefer) for the sake of pleasing her Catholic father. It was pitch-perfect Jens Lekman—walking the fine line between precious and twee, somehow managing to be sweet without giving you a toothache. That’s essential for a singer-songwriter who has deadpan lyrics about asthma inhalers and slicing avocados, and (just once) rhymes "number two" with "coochie-coo," all without inducing groans or eyerolls.

After kittens yawning and cross-species friendship, dear sweet Jens Lekman may be the most precious thing found in all of nature. The Gothenberg Swede makes orchestral pop songs in the vein of Morrissey or the Magnetic Fields without even being gay (just European). To promote Night Falls Over Kortedala, one of the best reviewed albums of the year, Jens has been touring around the States with his almost-all-girl backing band: