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If your judgment on Love in Stockholm were based solely on their penchant for matching suits and shades, their humble origins as BU undergrads who formed a band in order to obtain "free beer and girls," and their parody video of the Lonely Island's "I'm on a Boat" (shot at what appears to be someone's house, noton a boat), you'd conclude that they're tools. But even a cursory listen to A King'sRansom — the only local release akin to the Black Crowes' The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion so far this year — leads to a different conclusion. Expansive, methodically constructed, and singing the praises of rock and roll's earliest incarnations, A King'sRansom presents Love in Stockholm as a thinking man's party-time band. Especially if said man is a fan of supplementary instruments. Handy with organs and harmonicas (and what sound like congas on "Winter Song"), LIS employ their brass section with a panache unheard in Allston since the downfall of ska's third wave. Also, I can't remember any other song about waking and baking that's anywhere near as infectious as "Let Me Know."
