Mixing dreamy indie rock guitars with coed vocals and lush washes of sound, Blackstrap are a shoegaze-inspired quintet from Stockholm, Sweden. Founded in 2001 by frontman Jonatan Westh and organist Maria Lindén, the group crafted its sound for two years before releasing a debut album, Ghost Children, in 2003. More touring followed, as well as a performance on the national Swedish radio show P3. Blackstrap then retreated to a bunker in Amsterdam to record Steal My Horses and Run, another album of atmospheric, fuzzed-out rock & roll that evoked the sounds of My Bloody Valentine and Spiritualized. ~ Andrew Leahey