– Poliça – Live at Debaser Hornstusstrand, Stockholm – January 22, 2014 – Sveriges Radio SR3 –
Recorded at Debaser Hornstusstrand in Stockholm, Minnesota Experimental/synth-pop/dream-pop/Alternative band Polica delivered a wonderful and wonderfully well received set to a sold-out audience. As always, the proceedings were documented by the venerable Sveriges Radio.
Poliça were having a busy year in 2014. On tour around Europe promoting their latest album Shulamith, they were in the UK for much of the week before heading to Mexico for one day and then back to Germany for the rest of February. And this was only a taste of what the rest of the year would probably be like – it’s the slog they all talk about in order to get the point across, get people to like you and get your albums sold. Nobody said it was easy.
Their debut, Give You the Ghost, was released on Valentine’s Day, 2012 on Totally Gross National Product, a local community-based label, founded by drummer Drew Christopherson and Ryan Olson. The main reason to self-finance was ‘to put the record out’ as soon as possible’. In March 2012, the band played at SXSW in Austin, Texas, where NPR wrote that ‘Where Give You the Ghost gives the suggestion of a subdued live presence, Poliça’s stage show heads to somewhere approaching the opposite extreme — a welcome jolt of beauty and power.’ During a Poliça live performance Leaneagh uses effect pedals to stylize and manipulate her voice.
The summer of 2012 saw the band tour parts of Europe and play a handful of festivals together with Bon Iver. In August 2012, it was announced that the band had signed with Mom + Pop records and re-released the album on the 14th of that month, together with a remix EP. In October, they returned to the UK for an appearance on Later… with Jools Holland and a 16-date UK/European tour.
I’ve posted stuff from this band before and am still very high on them. They could really use your support – check out their website and pick up a copy of their latest, When We Stay Alive while you’re at it.
In the meantime, have a listen to what they’ve been up to lately and make a note to see them if/when they hit your neighborhood next year.
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