''#3'' is the debut studio album by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band Suburban Kids with Biblical Names. It is their third release overall, following the '' #1'' and '' #2'' EP releases, and their first and only release in the United States and United Kingdom.

Sound and composition

The album has been described as

. The album uses a wide variety of instrumentation in its sound, with

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

referring to them having "no respect for musical boundaries" with utilizing "... African-styled highlife-

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

s, electronic beats, and

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

s...they combine

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize t ...

-styled

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

with a guitar that sounds exactly like

Hank Marvin Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the ba ...

anno 1960".

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

compared the album's sound to the work of

Jens Lekman Jens Martin Lekman (; born 6 February 1981) is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. His work is heavily influenced by Jonathan Ri ...

and the

Acid House Kings Acid House Kings are a Swedish indie pop band. They were founded in 1991 by Joakim Ödlund (also in the bands Poprace, Double Dan, and Starlet) and brothers Niklas (Red Sleeping Beauty) and Johan Angergård (Club 8, The Legends, Poprace). Hist ...

Release and promotion

It was first released domestically on October 18, 2005 by

Labrador Records Labrador Records is a Sweden-based record label, specializing in indie pop and the twee subgenre. History Labrador was founded by Bengt Rahm in 1997 in Malmö, modeled on niche British record companies and Swedish fanzines like A Zero One and B ...

, and was subsequently released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Minty Fresh Minty Fresh is a Chicago-based record label, founded in 1993 by Jim Powers with Anthony Musiala. The label is known for launching the careers of Veruca Salt. They also gave the Swedish band The Cardigans their first US release and released the d ...

and the United Kingdom and Ireland by Yesboyicecream Records. The release was their only in the

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. The song "Rent a Wreck" from ''#3'' is featured in the

Toyota Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door sedan, it has been produced only as a five-door liftback since 2003. In 2007, ...

"Yes" commercial. It was also included in the

retrospective compilation album ''Labrador 100: A Complete History of Popular Music'', released in celebration of the label's tenth year of existence and 100th release in that timeframe.

Reception

The album was generally well received.

praised the diversity of sound and witty lyrics of the album, concluding that " ere's nothing amateurish about the kids' performance at any point; in fact, the instrumental performances and the creative and crystal clear production are among the most impressive things about this album. Seldom do debut albums come as truly wonderful as this one. ..don't let the spectacles and the wit fool you."

was less impressed by the silliness and wit to the lyrics, but ultimately concluded that " ey definitely don't take themselves too seriously, and that could prove to be a problem if they continue this far too precious playfulness because sometimes a little bit of twee-ness goes a long, long way. Fortunately they manage to stay just on the right side of the line this time and #3 is yet another great Swedish indie pop record."

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television ...

particularly noted that the lyrics of "Rent a Wreck" made for a "memorable tour song."

Track listing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:#3 (Suburban Kids with Biblical Names album) 2005 debut albums Suburban Kids with Biblical Names albums Labrador Records albums