In my Refused review I have elaborated on my relationship to and love for those Northern Swedes, so need to go into detail here again. INVSN is a multiple reincarnation of Dennis Lyxzén's (Refused, International Noise Conspiracy) original solo project The Lost Patrol Band -> Invasionen -> INVSN. Since 1999, the project has gone from singer-songerwriter melancholy to punky pop to Swedish indie to wavey rock'n'roll, the current sound. It's evidently an outlet for Mr. Lyxzén to showcase whatever he feels like and with whomever he feels like at a particular moment in time.
I have always enjoyed this project and its many forms but the current line-up and sound is by far the best yet. Not only that, it is also refreshingly current and well-written. The album is an absolute favourite of mine at the moment. However, this was not so until I saw them perform the songs live the other day. With six people on stage, a lot more raw rock'n'roll, and an extrovert frontman performance, this was one of the best live shows I have seen so far this year. I was thoroughly enjoying myself and so were the two teenagers I had with me that evening. Since then, INVSN is played on my record player rather frequently.
It goes to show that live music is still the way to discover music. The emotion it evokes can make you feel so much closer to the music and its performers. It's the way I discovered punk and hc, the way I discovered garage rock.
The best part of the evening was seeing my friends of course and seeing the very positive response they got from the Against Me! crowd, many of whom were turned to fans that night, no doubt.
If you want to know what the Against Me! gig was like, read my review from last time - though some band members have changed (incidentally, the former bass player of International Noise Conspiracy is now the bass player for Against Me!), the show was pretty much the same.
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