LIVE REVIEW: El Perro Del Mar & Taken By Trees @ Cafe Du Nord 3/2/2010

The irony was unbearable as the double-billed line-up of El Perro Del Mar and fellow Swede, Taken By Trees, took the stage last night at Du Nord, in the basement of the Swedish American Hall. Normally super cute pop explosion, El Perro Del Mar fronted the night wearing some sort or terrible quality a-symmetrical platinum wig and crimson lipstick. When we arrived, I had to do a double take, thinking some other band with a tranny singer was opening. Looks aside, El Perro Del Mar aka Sarah Assbring, shared a backing band with tour partner Taken By Trees aka Victoria Bergsman (formerly the lead singer of Concretes). Assbring stuck to her more pacifying melodic tunes from earlier years than the upbeat, electronic, love-obsessed songs off her latest Love Is Not Pop. A definite highlight of the evening included a spot-on cover of the xx’s “Shelter.” We venture to say she sounded nearly identical to the British youngsters, and it made just as big an impact.

Cute teensy brunette, Victoria Bergsman struggled some with relaying her intentions in English, but the attempts were admirable. The crowd ate up every little word, even half-convincing Bergsman to move to San Francisco at one point. Some songs lulled, but a majority of the show was interactive and entertaining. The obvious crowd favorite, a cover of Animal Collective’s “My Girls” brought the crowd to life, singing with excitement. This writer dares to say that even as an avid Animal Collective lover, Taken By Trees’ album version of “My Boys” might be slightly better. Overall, an excellent and rare Swedish combo that we’d see again in an instant.