SOFT MACHINE - TEDDYBEARS
Every track on Teddybears’ major-label debut is A) good and B) perfect to hype a product. It should come as no surprise, then, that Teddybears leaders Joakim and Klas Ahlund also wrote and produced the Caesars’ “Jerk It Out” (the foundation of the successful iPod campaign) and work for a TV production house in their native Sweden that counts McDonald’s as a client. “Soft Machine” is just as smart and catchy as “Jerk,” combining Jamaican MC-ing (”Cobrastyle,” already in Heineken and Tab ads) with jangly pop guitars (”Yours to Keep”), post-punk ramblings (by Iggy Pop himself on “Punkrocker”), Art of Noise-ish atmospherics (”Magic Kraut,” “Alma”) and — most impressive — commercial savvy with genuine musicality. Forget Ace of Base. Teddybears might be the best Swedish export since ABBA. Billboard
