Title: Failures and Sparks (US version)
Format: Cd
Label: Galaxy Gramophone
Date of release: 2005-10-18

This is the US edition of Failures and Sparks, licensed from Flora & Fauna by Galaxy Gramophone. It contains five bonus tracks that were recorded during a demo session a year previous to the recording of "Failures". This album is available for ordering via parasol.

Reviews:

With Failures and Sparks, The Chrysler have taken a gigantic step forward musically. Songs like "This Is Midnight" pay clear homage to the Velvet Underground and the Doors with it's chorus of "I'm your man, your little white man, who thinks he can run faster than Jesus" while "Damn Straight Evil" features a recorder (?) that's straight out of the Gorillaz' first record. Influences are all over the map on this one but taken as a whole the record has an eerie, spooky life of it's own.
Craig Bonnell, swedesplease.blogspot.com

Wow, is this a terrific band. "Failures" is my first exposure to The Chrysler and I'm captivated by the interesting vocal blend served up by Anders Rudstrom and Pelle Lindroth. You get one type of distinctive sound when each sings the lead, and another sound when they sing together (a low and mid-range combo). It's winsome melodic pop that's early-spring fresh, just a bit melancholic and laced with a dash of late '60s pastoral psychedelia. I love the nocturnal vibe of "This is midnight", with the muted bass and distant trumpet adorning the sparkling upfront vocal. "Along the freefall" is a lively mid-tempo shuffle, "Ring of a bell" brings on some old-fashioned horns in an unexpected manner and "Damn straight evil" is simply one of the coolest tunes I've heard lately. It's got tastefully minimal acoustic guitar, melodica (actually, the melodica is all over this disc, and I ain't complaining), and flawless lead vocals and harmonies. There is something really beguiling and relaxed about this band that is indefinably unique. And the U.S. release has five sweet (mostly acoustic) bonus tracks. A hearty "thumbs up" for this classic Swedish vehicle known as The Chrysler.
Kevin Renick, itsatrap.com

Anders E Rudstrom and Pelle Lindroth -- both exceptional songwriters with a taste for quirky lyrics -- seem to be second cousins to Richard Davies. Like Davies, they often reach for the sophistication of grandiose melodies, but ultimately play the shy boy in the end. Expect the group's sullen tone to be affixed to your unconscious by lots of melodica, piano, organ, and horns.
jukeboxupchuck.blogspot.com

The Chrysler's debut disc, Failures and Sparks, is a low-key gem that impresses musically and connects emotionally with those who love vaguely country-ish songs with lovely vocals, sparkling instrumentation, and sweetly insinuating hooks. The band sports two songwriters and singers, Pelle Lindroth and Anders E. Rudstrom, with strong and distinctive voices and styles who have obviously studied their masters (Neil, Dylan, the Band) but never imitate them. Leadoff track "What I Must Keep with Mine" sets the stage with swooning vocal harmonies, melancholy lyrics, and glockenspiel. The rest of the album rarely veers from this stellar beginning, mixing lovelorn ballads ("When Sarah Came to Town," "Ring of a Bell," "Yours Sincerely"), rollicking, almost bluesy numbers ("Along the Freefall"), graceful chamber pop ("Wounded Night"), and intimate rockers ("Damn Straight Evil," "Revolution #1"). At its best the album has a quiet epic quality to it, a sort of mellow grandeur that serves as a welcome contrast to bands like Coldplay and Snow Patrol who seem to be coming from a similar angle but overplay and overblow every last note. The Chrysler underplay every note beautifully. The American release of the record includes five shimmering acoustic songs that mostly strip away the instrumentation that bolsters the album proper and demonstrate that the band has a solid core that doesn't need much bolstering to be wonderful. Stack these songs up against the best of the "quiet is the new loud" crowd like Kings of Convenience and you'll find them just as good. Failures and Sparks is light on the former and heavy on the latter and is a truly auspicious debut.
Tim Sendra, All Music Guide

Color me pleasantly surprised. Until a little under an hour ago, I had been operating under the (perhaps wholly unfair) assumption that every band out of Sweden was either some post-disco bastardization, or a long-haired fuzz-fueled nuevo-garage band. The Chrysler couldn’t be further from the two, had it made a conscious effort to distance itself from its countrymen and women. Failures and Sparks is a sound infinitely more subtle, far more akin to that of their Norwegian neighbors, The Kings of Convenience, who so proudly declared quiet the new loud on their second LP, wearing the influence of the Greenwich Village folk scene proudly on their shirt sleeves, co-vocalist Anders E. Rudstrom channeling a young (if less angsty) Dylan in his more ecstatic moments.
The songs on Failures and Sparks are beautiful in their own quiet simplicity, vocals at points resembling both a more low-key Tyrannosaurus-era Marc Bolan and the harmonies of early Simon and Garfunkel, accompanied lightly plucked guitar, minimal bass, the occasional melodica, and a sporadic appearances by a revolving cast of intentionally underwhelming instruments. The lyrics too are rooted in simplicity, owed most likely to language barriers, but certainly not subtracting from the overall charm of the music.
The Chrysler’s debut will almost certainly appeal to most fans of quiet folk, as the band managed an accomplished entry into the maintaining whimsy without falling into the ever-present indie trappings of quaintness and twee. It’s more simply an accomplished debut, it’s a completely listenable and wholly enjoyable record unto itself.
Brian Heater, aversion.com

Swedish band who has a gentle folk based sound. Their sound can evoke artists such as Donovan and Belle And Sebastian, sometimes adding light dollops of psychedelia or country-rock. Another reference point is the sweeter side of The Velvet Underground. "Wounded Night" is a pretty nocturnal ode in the vein of great songs like "I'll Be Your Mirror" and "Femme Fatale". Some of the songs spin tales, best exemplified on the jaunty acoustic number "Revolution # 1". This is a fond and wise reminiscence on a past love that fizzled out: "Well love can drain out the seas and cool off the sun/but rifles and guns can't call off the peace/that I felt inside when I held that hand". My favorite number is probably "When Sarah Came to Town", a plaintive piano piece. Vocalists Anders Rudstrom and Pelle Lindroth sing together, not quite in harmony, but harmoniously. The way the drawn out somber verse flows into the more melodic chorus is quite memorable. This disc includes five non-LP bonus tracks that provide further proof that these guys have a good thing going.
Mike Bennet, fufkin.com