The running joke about Lo-Fi-Fnk - yes, it's spelled that way - is that the band's music is neither lo-fi nor funk.
Yet, the young Swedish duo's elastic electro-pop is refreshingly simple and inherently danceable. It's so good that they can bet on countless more fans being in on the joke before long.
Barely out of their teens, Leo Drougge and August Hellsing turned a high school friendship into one of their country's hottest new acts. Fueled by fantasies of the decadent clubbing lifestyle they were too young to live, they turned their dreams into musical reality and found success in their homeland along the way.
A few buzz-building performances at New York City's CMJ Music Marathon last fall, including a barn-burning set opening for Hot Chip, caught the eyes and ears of bloggers, critics and others lucky enough to catch a glimpse.
Now, on the eve of their first nationwide U.S. tour, their debut album - still inexplicably hard to find Stateside - offers a blueprint to what the young rockers are really about.
Lo-Fi-Fnk describes Boylife as a concept album, "an 11-track story about being young for too long."
Thank God the duo is resisting the urge to grow up.
Every single song practically drips hooks and melody, from the shimmering digital sunrise of "Wake Up" to the triumphant cacophony of the best and final track on the album, appropriately titled "The End."
"City" kicks the album off and into full gear with huge, propulsive beats and a monstrous synthesizer line.
"A.D.T." (short for "act, don't talk") is another gem, a party-starting mix of jittery drums, cascading keys and '60s surf guitar - the only "real" instrument on the album, in fact.
"Boylife" is a nearly flawless record, melding the wild intoxication and reckless abandon of youth with the musicianship and songwriting of a band seasoned beyond its years.
Lo-Fi-Fnk begins a 24-date U.S. tour next month, including four consecutive showcases at South by Southwest in Austin. The tour kicks off March 6 in Los Angeles.
Reach the reporter at: samuel.gavin@asu.edu.
