The first song on Norwegian indie-pop outfit Razika's debut, Program 91, is titled "Youth". It's an exercise in writing what you know. The band is made up of 19-year-old girls who have known each other since they were six and have been making music together since they were 14. Razika recorded Program 91 over the course of one year on weekends, to work around their school schedule. They've had the privilege not only of being compared to the Slits, but also of pointing out that the comparison's kind of sexist, since they sound nothing like the Slits. If you're the type who wonders why you weren't more proactive when you were younger, avoid this album.
Program 91's basic makeup is spiky, sharp, post-punk-inflected pop, executed with laser-precise accuracy (and a re-contextualized cover of "Why We Have to Wait", a song by 1960s Norwegian pop group the Pussycats). In the record's back half, slight dub touches and ska-worthy rhythmic figures enter the mix; the former is squint-your-eyes noticeable, while the latter explicitly serves the band's unassailable sense of time-keeping. The interlocking syncopation is strong enough to suspect that Gorilla Glue plays a part in holding everything together-- that, or lead singer Marie Amdam, who hugs her syllables tightly and with added zest (on "Vondt I Hjertet", you can practically feel the spit from her inflected accent hitting your face).
Like a lot of indie-pop albums, Program 91 is relatively quick and dirty. But despite its brevity, the album's second side drags a bit, as the skanked rhythms begin to bleed into each other with a lack of individual distinction. Stick around, though, for the album's gorgeous, windswept closer "Walk in the Park", an airy slice of melancholia that addresses an open-book relationship while closing out this band's first chapter. After all the peppy guitar lines and young-at-love-and-life razmatazz that one's heart could handle, Program 91 melts down to gentle strums and layered "ba-da-da"s, saying farewell in the "we'll meet again" way that only the best of friends do.
