Brandishing a soft rock style that harks back to the early-'80s heyday of Hall Oates (to draw just one among innumerable possible comparisons), Fibes, Oh Fibes! steadily rose to mainstream success in their native Sweden during the mid-2000s. Their third album, 1987, is the culmination of their work to date. It not only builds upon the soul-pop of their debut album, Still Fresh (2004), and the disco-funk inclinations of their follow-up effort, Emotional (2006), it goes so far as to include guest features by a couple favorites of yesteryear, namely Swedish legend Björn Skifs of #Eurovision fame and new wave icon Kim Wilde of Kids in America fame. These guest features, not to mention the title of the album itself, cement the group's soft rock throwback reputation. Assuming you're old enough to have experienced the soft rock heyday, there's no escaping the echoes of Hall Oates, Kenny Loggins, Phil Collins, Elton John, Lionel Richie, Supertramp, Boz Scaggs, Michael McDonald-era Doobie Brothers, and so many other acts from an epoch sometimes tagged with the tongue-in-cheek "yacht rock" moniker, and if these reference points bring back fond memories, it's indeed a lot of fun to listen to 1987 and feel yourself swept back in time. Thankfully, there's more to Fibes, Oh Fibes! than nostalgia. Three albums into their career, these guys have honed their craft to perfection and have evolved into something of a party band. Their music manages to sound retro without losing any of its contemporary production punch, the drums in particular, and lead vocalist Christian Olsson has evolved into a charismatic frontman with a commanding presence. Though the album is rather brief at 37 minutes, the ten songs on 1987 are all winners, and once the first few party-starters (Dubious, Love Child, Silly Lover) pass, there's a lot of variety from song to song in terms of instrumentation, tempo, and tone. As for highlights, the aforementioned first few songs certainly stand out, along with the couple duets (especially the Wilde guest feature, Run to You), the downtempo piano-and-strings number New York City, and the floor-stomping album-closer, Goodbye Sunshine. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi

1		Dubious
2		Love Child
3		Silly Lover
4		New York City
5		Love Will Always Find a Way
6		Run to You (feat. Kim Wilde)
7		My Calendar (feat. Björn Skifs)
8		Stuck On You
9		I Think I Blew It Again
10		Goodbye Sunshine

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