Darling Swedish: Love Is All

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THE LAST TIME Love Is All played in D.C., the Swedish indie-pop band was still a well-kept secret. In the fall of 2005 the group had only a couple of singles to its name and was known mostly by 7-inch collectors, indie-pop lifers and Scandinavian pop obsessives.

A few months later its debut album, "Nine Times the Same Song" (What's Your Rupture), caused a minor stir on the Internet thanks to its frisky, frenetic sound and the band has been keeping plenty busy ever since.

"We played in places like Australia, Brazil, France, Italy and Scandinavia," drummer Markus Gorsch said as the band got ready to embark on a quick one-week tour of the States that includes a stop at the Black Cat on Wednesday. "And then we slowly started building our own studio in our hometown, Gothenburg, where we recorded our new album and a bunch of other stuff, like this cover EP we have out now."

To say that the artists covered on that EP are a diverse lot would be certainly an understatement.

Love Is All energetically tackles selections by Glasgow post-punkers Lung Leg, ridiculous-hair enthusiasts Flock of Seagulls and jazzy classic rockers Dire Straits, with plenty of their trademark ramshackle flair. The highlight, though, is a fun romp through Prince's it-seemed-really-filthy-at-the-time 1984 song "Darling Nikki." Singer Josephine Olausson's screaming on the track would make the Purple One proud if only he still acknowledged his ribald past. The song has reignited bloggers' infatuation with the band, but don't count on hearing it or any of the other covers at the band's current shows.

"We might try a couple if the mood is right," Gorsch said. "We're not sure though. That was something we just did in a couple of days, from the idea to the printing of the sleeves, because we got tired of the long, slow process of making an album. So we never really learned to play those songs."

Gorsch, Olausson and guitarist Nicholaus Sparding all previously played together in Girlfriendo, but that band's light, twee pop sound didn't really hint at the scratchy, lo-fi aggressiveness of "Nine Times the Same Song."

"We wanted to take maybe the 20 loudest seconds of a Girlfrendo record and make an entire record like that," Gorsch said.

Songs like "Talk Talk Talk" and "Felt Tip" successfully married propulsive, danceable rhythms with pop tunefulness and the band also carved out its own identity by featuring generous use of saxophone. That helped separate them from the pack but it also had some unintended consequences.

"We actually started out as a quartet and played our first shows in Sweden like that," Gorsch said. "We only played one show without sax. That was in Rome, and it wasn't so good. The sax has become an essential part of the sound, but at the same time I'm not exited about being in, you know, 'that band with the sax.'"

For a while recently it seemed that wouldn't be a problem since original sax player Fredrik Eriksson left the band about a year ago. But Gorsch met James Ausfahrt "when we both toured with this hippie band, Still Flying. I was playing bongos and he played sax," Gorsch said. "That is, he was trying. He only just started learning. And after the tour I said over some drinks, 'If you learn to play some more notes we would love you to join Love Is All.'" He learned enough notes, apparently, as Ausfahrt is now part of the band.

Love Is All's second album, "A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night," has been recorded but no release date has been set yet. This week's tour gives American fans a rare chance to catch the band but there's stiff alt-rock competition tonight with both R.E.M. and The Breeders also in town.

When asked why Love Is All should be the concert-going choice for the evening, Gorsch had the perfect answer for these tough economic times:

"The tickets might be cheaper!"

» Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW, with Videohippos, We Fought the Big One; Wed., 9 p.m., $12; 800-551-7328. (U St.-Cardozo)

Written by Express contributor Meg Zamula

Top photo by Wyatt Cusick; others courtesy Love Is All