The Jessica Fletchers

The Jessica Fletchers deliver an exuberant, freewheeling brand of indie pop colored by the psychedelic and bubblegum sounds of 1960s acts such as the Monkees and the Association, while also evoking the Bicycles, Tullycraft, and the Apples in Stereo. The quintet—Bjorn Rune Lie, Vegard Syrstad, Andreas Mastrup, Thomas Innstø, and Rune Somdal—came together in a suburb outside Oslo, Norway, in 1997 and took its name from the mystery novelist portrayed by Angela Lansbury on the television series Murder, She Wrote. One year later the band issued its first album, the self-released I Can Shoot You from Here, which quickly drew the interest of Perfect Pop Records and earned the group a contract before 1998 closed. In 2000 the label released the EP Sorry About the Noise!, after which Lie departed on friendly terms and Jan Henning Sørensen stepped in on drums. Later that year the band’s stock rose sharply after it prevailed in the Norwegian “battle of the bands” competition Zoom, a victory that financed an extensive Norwegian tour and helped place the track “Sorry About the Noise” in regular rotation on domestic radio.

The follow-up EP (Come On) It’s Only Nine appeared in 2002, underwritten in part by the Zoom proceeds, though Syrstad exited that summer and keyboardist Ivar (“Ravi”) Chr. Johansen joined in his stead. The following year saw the arrival of the group’s first full-length, What Happened to The?, which prompted a deal with New York’s Rainbow Quartz imprint. Johansen soon left to pursue a solo hip-hop endeavor, leading Thomas Innstø to recruit his brother Mats for the lineup. Over the ensuing twelve months the band maintained a demanding schedule that included its inaugural major European trek and a slot at the 2004 SXSW festival. Less Sophistication surfaced in Norway that autumn, and the full-length You Spider followed in 2007.