Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends' 'Suck': a wonk-pop summer symphony

Whizzing by in a flurry of tight vocal harmonies, seventh chords, and wonky electronics, ‘Suck’ - the new single from Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends - could well be an off-cut from ‘Sgt Peppers’ Lonely Hearts Club Band’.

Positioned somewhere between The The at their most endearing, Denim’s kaleidoscopic pop workouts, or perhaps even Ween, it’s an undeniably joyous 21st-century update of classic psychedelia. 

The word count-worrying Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends is the solo project of Arne Floryd, an ex-member of the Swedish outfit Redmoon.

‘Suck’ is the first single from the debut album ‘Birds At The Summer’s Gate’ - an “eclectic blend of cheer and melancholia, musically rooted in the sixties and seventies with tints of folk and punk” as described in their Soundcloud bio.

Indeed, the word “cheer” is particularly germane to ‘Suck’. The propulsive rhythm, chattering woodblocks, and horn parps lend a sense of freewheeling celebration, with a hands-aloft coda following a gorgeous low-slung break. If you want an anthem, you’ve come to the right place - this tune is a real earworm, and one which you’ll be humming for days. 

There’s even a certain nostalgia that creeps in towards the end, recalling what you might hear in a coming-of-age film perhaps accompanying a montage of our hero enjoying their last summer of real freedom: slurp it down, drink it up, enjoy it now, with a little from your friend: ‘Suck’. 

Will Ainsley

@will_ainsley

Image: ‘Suck’ Official Single Cover