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Hush, children, the mimsy Viking warlords of NAM are coming on another pillaging raid and, truly, no wild flower can be safe from their delicate clutches. Kings Of Convenience are an endlessly amusing band, one who sound like they'd be bullied by Belle & Sebastian and who hail from Bergen, epicentre of Norway's church-burning and band member-murdering satanic metal scene.


Confusion increases when you realise they're the feyest of the faintly ridiculous acoustic battalion, and also by some distance the best. Hence 'Toxic Girl', a self-conscious gambol through Elliott Smith's less tortured moments with bonus harmonies and - in an act of extreme subversion - a string section. The musical equivalent of a sensible sweater but, confronting personal demons, tremendously comfortable.


John Mulvey

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