Mr. Little Jeans
Pocketknife
Release Date: Mar 25, 2014
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Electronic, Dream Pop, Synth Pop, Electro
Record label: Harvest
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Album Review: Pocketknife by Mr. Little Jeans
Great, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
As sharp and ingeniously versatile as the metaphorical title object of her debut album, the Norwegian electro-pop chanteuse who captured the attention of over two million YouTube viewers with her darkly delectable interpretation of Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs”, will prove this month that her brooding cover was anything but a fluke. Easily one of the best albums of the year thus far, few debut records brush up against perfection as effortlessly as Mr Little Jeans’ Pocketknife. Named after a minor character in Wes Anderson’s quirky 1998 film Rushmore, L.
Based on rating B
Like Limp Bizkit and Alien Ant Farm before her, Mr Little Jeans (née Monica Birkenes) found fame in a cover. Awash in foamy seashore synths, the Norwegian singer’s moody rendition of Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” is striking. It also sounds pretty much nothing like the songs that surround it. That’s because, unlike the aforementioned rap-rockers, Birkenes’s famous cover is also her weakest song.
Based on rating 6/10
Pocketknife, the debut LP by Norwegian indie pop songstress Monica Birkenes (working under the name Mr. Little Jeans), isn't quite as quirky as her Wes Anderson-inspired moniker would suggest. Having found her initial success the new-fashioned way by recording covers of popular songs like Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" (which also appears here on Pocketknife) and Beyoncé's "Single Ladies," both of which racked up the plays on YouTube and SoundCloud, Birkenes used these as a launching pad for her own material, landing tracks on several high-profile movie soundtracks and television shows.
'Pocketknife'
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