The Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files: Division Of Laura Lee

Time for another installment of the Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files, where we raid our archives in search of a lost gem.

Artist: Division Of Laura Lee Album: Black City, 2002 What happened: In 2001, U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans signed a trade pact with Sweden, promising a six-month working visa for any musicians that wanted to travel into the country, so long as they sounded somewhat like the Hives (in exchange, we sent them the dog from the Air Bud movies). Division Of Laura Lee was one such band, and yes, they did sound a bit like the Hives, but somewhat darker. Why it should have been a hit: While DOLL could knock out raging numbers such as “We’ve Been Planning This For Years,” Black City also got slow and spooky at times, which helped the group stand out a bit among the Swedish garage-rockers of the time; plus, they always looked kinda frowny-faced, which made their live shows all the more enjoyable.

Division of Laura Lee – Need To Get Some [MP3, link expired] Division of Laura Lee – We’ve Been Planning This For Years [MP3, link expired] Division of Laura Lee – Trapped In [MP3, link expired] Division Of Laura Lee [MySpace]