The Knife: Deep Cuts : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Already big at home, this Swedish brother-and-sister duo made its U.S. debut this summer with the not-bad Silent Shout, a dark synth-pop record that balanced abundant quirks with cold, shiny hooks. Like Silent Shout, these two earlier discs bank on throbbing electro beats, expansive, gothed-out effects and playfulness that's sometimes an asset. The Knife (first issued in 2001 in Sweden) has its moments (the icy, sexy "High School Poem") but gets lost in an arty hinterland, with Karin Dreijer Andersson's indulgent Bjork-isms running amok. Deep Cuts (from 2003) shows the Knife can write solid songs when they feel like it ("Heartbeats"), and it packs enough engaging bizarro-pop for curious listeners to stomach junk like the sub-sub-Falco "Handy-Man."