Aural Fixations

DAVID & THE CITIZENS
Until the Sadness is Gone
(Adrian/Border Music)
One of the things I love about this whole rock critic gig is getting knocked on my ass by someone I've never heard before. Let me introduce you to my latest assailant: David & the Citizens. The Swedish quintet mixes folk, rock, Dixieland, marches, klezmer and more into its multi-faceted music. The Pogues and Brave Combo could be touchstones, but so could the Klezmatics. In the hands of songwriter David Fridlund, it all comes out as melodic pop anyway. Singalong melodies and exuberant arrangements augmented by strings, horns and accordion make the tunes irresistible, and a good thing, too: the lyrics are a litany of misery and dejection. (Probably the result of Fridlund losing his mother prior to recording.) "The End" practically jumps out of the grooves, yet the music carries lines like "I think I'm stupid," "I fear I'm cracking up" and "Oh my dear is this the end?" "Graycoated Morning" contains the memorably heartwrenching libretto "I'll pin your words of sadness and grief/Into my skin/Until you're within." Fridlund complains of "long days of belly-ache" in "Long Days" and points out to a friend that "it hurts to wake up" in "Silverjacketgirl." But the upbeat hooks must have some positive effect, because Fridlund isn't giving up. He looks for a path out of the pain in "New Direction" and in the title track begs a loved one to "put that record on and dance with me/Until the sadness is gone." "Let's Not Fall Apart" finds wisdom in the loss of someone close, even as it acknowledges the ache. Fridlund ends the record tentatively looking forward, with the gentle admonition "No one's gonna tell you it's not worth it/When you know it's gonna be alright." It's good to know that Fridlund's depression isn't permanent. But with a band as rollicking as the Citizens behind him, how could it be? Michael Toland [buy it]