Leslies

Emerging from the southern Swedish town of Kristianstad, the Leslies came together in 1993 with singer Martin Berndtsson, guitarist Martin Engvall, keyboardist Jens Faltman, bassist Jonas Johansson, and drummer Tony Ivarsson. Their sound echoed that of fellow Swedes Eggstone and the Cardigans, yielding a pair of strong mid-'90s albums that appealed directly to followers of the local indie circuit. After completing a home-recorded demo in 1994, the group forwarded it to Tambourine Studios owner Tore Johansson, a pivotal presence in Swedish pop. The resulting Johansson-produced session at Tambourine secured a contract with the fledgling Harry Lime Records. The label issued the single "The Limesong" in 1995, then the band's debut album Totally Brilliant the following year and the sequel Of Today, for Today in 1997. American Pop Project, a U.S. imprint, later assembled five tracks from those two releases into the EP titled The Leslies, which appeared in 1998.