Free and legal MP3 from Cats On Fire (Finnish Smiths worshippers make nice new song)

"The Borders of This Land" - Cats On Fire
     Maybe you wouldn't expect a band from Finland to sound quite so much like the Smiths, but such is musical life in this mashed-up century of ours. And yes I mean really a lot like them: check out the urgent yet lilting minor-key suspended chord strumming; check out the meandering, melancholy melody, and the way it feels as if we're somehow joining it already in progress; check out (as if you could miss it) the Morrisseyan croon of singer Mattias Björkas. Turns out it is sometimes a very fine line indeed between transcending and re-transmitting one's influences.
     But the song charms me. I keep listening, I keep saying, "Okay, maybe too much," and yet sure enough, by the time Björkas gets to that part about being lowered into the ground (0:48), the song--ironically enough--comes alive. In my book, sounding like someone else, even a lot, doesn't prevent you from writing a good song. And if you've written a good song, then look at that: you've transcended your influences. (For the record, there's a healthy dollop of Belle & Sebastian in here too.) I particularly like the changes that unfold through the chorus: how it starts as an extension of the verse but takes first a melodic twist (at "your friends will set up..."; 0:56), and then both a rhythmic and tempo shift ("supporting all the boys..."; 1:02), which is not only not particularly Smiths-like but is in fact nicely unusual. And then the chorus kind of lingers on beyond its natural ending point, which makes the return to the lilting, brisker, strummy section especially effective.
     "The Borders of This Land" is the second "side" of an MP3 single the band released on the Swedish label Cosy Recordings in December. (Note that the song is labeled a "live demo" but doesn't to my ears sound notably demo-ier than the A-side.) I found out about the band via a recent Contrast Podcast with the theme of "Borders"--specifically thanks to JC, who runs the Vinyl Villain blog. MP3 via Cosy Recordings.