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Agony Street: Italian Whisky
 Agony Street is/was the Swedish duo of Klas Qvist and Gudmundur Bragason who first met in the early ‘80s, but it was not until 1990 Agony Street was born. I became familiar with the duo upon reviewing their second album Songs For William, recorded in 1993 but released on CD in 2020. Their first album, Agony Street 119 was recorded in 1991 and has still not been physically released. After listening to the superb Songs For William, I found it surprising that nearly twenty years passed before an official release. This brings us to the third and final album Italian Whisky, which the duo began in 2018. On a sad note, Klas passed away in 2021 as the album neared completion. Gudmundur sought the help of a few friends to provide the finishing touches and in February 2023 Italian Whisky was released.
Like their last album Songs For William, the pop sensibility is off the charts. If you want earworms look no further than Italian Whisky with the album proper beginning with “The Girl Next Door” and its delicious renaissance sounding keyboards and super catchy lead vocals. The midtempo Beatles-like “All Those Golden Years Ago” and the slightly urgent “You Turn Me Off” with its sly guitar work and head-sticking vocals set the hook for the rest of the album. For some good old fashioned drinking songs, the title track and the short piano based “After Approximately Seven Glasses Of Italian Whisky” will fit the bill quite nicely and with the ‘60s flavoured “Save 20 Minutes” the band’s subtle quirkiness shines through.
Such a fine album but with bittersweet underpinnings knowing this is the end of the line for the band. Hopefully Klas can rest easy knowing his music had such a tremendous impact on those who chose to listen. Easily recommended.
Track Listing:
1. Next Door Overture (0:50)
2. The Girl Next Door (3:16)
3. All Those Golden Years Ago (Song For Anki) (3:40)
4. You Turn Me Off (2:26)
5. Italian Whisky (3:05)
6. You Are Gwendolyn (2:58)
7. Save 20 Minutes (3:22)
8. After Approximately Seven Glasses Of Italian Whisky (1:02)
9. Letter From Hell (3:27)
10. Next Door To A Looney (3:10)
11. Time To Go Home (3:09)
12. Mom’s Street (3:32)
13. Global City (Nothing Is Everything) (2:59)
14. Utopia (5:15)
Added: October 11th 2023
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score: 
Related Link: Band on YouTube
Hits: 711
Language: english
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Agony Street: Italian Whisky
Posted by Steven Reid, SoT Staff Writer on 2023-10-11 17:26:24
My Score: 
It’s always a little heartbreaking when you discover that one of the main protagonists on an album you’re listening to won’t have had the opportunity to hear the results of their endeavours. That’s the case with Swedish duo Agony Street and their third and final album Italian Whiskey, the sad passing of multi-instrumentalist Klas Qvist as he and Gudmunder Bragason put the finishing touches to this album bringing a real sense of melancholy to the occasion.
To his credit Bragason has made sure that his and Klas’s efforts haven’t gone to waste and as such we get the 60s pop infused Italian Whiskey, a brisk collection of what I’d affectionately call ‘ditties’ interspersed with some slightly more off the wall fare, such as the joyous but loosely ridiculous song from which the album takes its name.
With a lot of the lyrics falling into the world of ‘I love her, I want to marry her’ the sense of fun continues throughout, although a few other tracks - that aforementioned title cut and “After Approximately Seven Glasses Of Italian Whiskey” - are much more, and maybe dangerously so, quirky.
If you love your pop with a side of laughs and heavy on its upbeat 60s influences then Italian Whiskey may become your tipple.
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Agony Street: Italian Whisky
Posted by on 2023-09-18 21:17:02
My Score:
Thank you Jon, Klas always said nice things about Sea Of Tranquility and the review of his albums with Citizen K - there will be a reissue of the very first Agony Street album - 119 Agony Street, hopefully next year, after it was recorded in 1991.
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