Category Archives: under review

Jaill

That’s How We Burn (Sub Pop)

Review By Sarah Berman

Creative spellers and Milwaukee four-piece Jaill sound like the type of band that “practices” rather than “jams.” Every song on their big label debut That’s How We Burn fits into a cohesive garage-pop aesthetic; the riffs are watertight, the drum licks indestructible. Never mind improvising—everything from lead singer Vincent Kircher’s conversational melodies to the subdued hints of Wisconsin twang—feel polished and calculated. Read More »

Arcade Fire

The Suburbs (Merge)

Review By Miné Salkin

It’s been three years since Neon Bible was released, the most groundbreaking work from the indie rock outfit Arcade Fire. The album was completely electrifying—with hauntingly beautiful riffs and the screams of frontman Win Butler—Montreal certainly made a name for itself on the international scene. Read More »

SSRIs

Effeminate Godzilla-Sized Windchimes (Independent)

Review by Slavko Bucifal

SSRIs - Effeminate Godzilla-Sized Windchimes

SSRIs - Effeminate Godzilla-Sized Windchimes

SSRIs has undergone a transformation since their runner-up status at Shindig 2007. The death of their drummer, Tommy Milburn (whom the album is dedicated to) forced a reconstruction project for Joseph Hirabayashi and crew. The band has added a few new faces and a more complex refinement of unpolished bedlam, which conjures up the theory of chaos, and order from disorder. File Effeminate Godzilla-Sized Windchimes under art-punk, synth-punk, jazz-punk, death-punk and psychedelic avant-garde musings. At first, the record feels random and chaotic, but with listening demonstrates compositional brilliance and lyrical depth.
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The Wheat Pool

Behind the Stars (Shameless Records)

Review By Nathaniel Bryce

The Wheat Pool - Behind the Stars

The Wheat Pool - Behind the Stars

Edmonton’s the Wheat Pool are back to whet hungry appetites with a ‘fan friendly’ offering in the form of a five-song EP entitled Behind The Stars, featuring a couple of unreleased tracks as well as two versions of Neil Young’s “Helpless” and an alternate take on a song from last years full-length CD, Hauntario. The unreleased songs, “Woman” and “Edith Cavell” are quite nice, showcasing the band’s delicate alt-country romantic trappings at their best, and “Evangeline” is a pretty, stripped down alternative to the meatier version found on Hauntario. The two versions of “Helpless”, apparently a favorite at live gigs, are faithful and respectful takes on the original. The Wheat Pool’s soft-focused Canadian sound is appealing and easy to digest and they really do know how to write a good song. Offering a little back to the fans for mere pennies shows that they care about who is listening and what they’d like to hear, a sure sign that this band is far from self-serving. If you’re already a fan of what this band does then log onto their website and download this digital only release, because this is all for you. But if you’re looking for a more stylish and substantial introduction to the band, track down some of their earlier, more palatable output and work your way up from there.

RatTail

George Mounsey EP (Unfamiliar Records)

Review By Andrew Reeves

Rattail - George Mounsey EP

Rattail - George Mounsey EP

Jasmyn Burke’s vocals are probably the most alluring part of Toronto three-piece RatTail’s < > George Mounsey EP, which is solidly produced for being, according to their MySpace, “recorded by the band in there [sic] basement .” The album is part of a series of 300-copy limited edition 7” EPs by Unfamiliar Records, which includes releases by Vancouver’s prodigious offspring, Makeout Videotape and Brasstronaut.
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Pineapple

Pineapple (Independent)

Review By Mark PaulHus

The listener will know exactly what to expect from Pineapple’s debut release just by looking at the artwork. The album cover depicts four indie-nerds and a roaring grizzly bear superimposed against a glowing intergalactic night sky (an obvious choice of graphics for a band named after a popular tropical fruit). Featuring songs with titles like “Snoodle” and “Wahow”, the mishmash of quirky indie-pop contained on the album proves to be just as odd as the cover art.

The project is the brainchild of Cameron Dilworth, formerly of Niens Circa, who brought together some of his friends from Prairie Cat, SSRIs and the Joint Chiefs (along with the recording talents of Caleb Stull of Parlor Steps) to help contain and translate some of the songs that have been bouncing around his head. The resulting eleven tracks center around Dilworth’s strange, whimsical lyrics and his unique Fred Penner meets Lou Reed vocals. For the most part, the poppy tunes are catchy and fun. They are lighthearted and endearingly childish both lyrically and in instrumentation. This, however, proves to be a blessing and a curse, as some songs are clever and well delivered while others end up sounding just plain silly and interrupt the flow of an otherwise good album. On a whole though, it is nice to hear some music by talented musicians who don’t take things too seriously!

JDH

Arms Legs Feet (Beatismurder)

Review By Miné Salkin

JDH - Arms Legs Feet

JDH - Arms Legs Feet

Mixed at Buena Vista Audio in Langley, BC, an unlikely locale to spawn such a promising work of indie-tronica, JDH’s debut album is downright excellent. With his delicate voice and superb computer-music skills, this album should be categorized in the same vein as heavies the Postal Service, Frou Frou and Vampire Weekend. Taking four years to record, Arms Legs Feet is a paragon of technical execution, meticulous editing and soulful lyricism.

While the album is a collage of covers ranging from Sufjan Stevens to Fugazi, it’s not a creative cop out in the least. “Quiet Noise,” a stripped-down, almost vintage-sounding track, is hypnotic, and chronicles the musician’s plight since he started the project. During the time it took to make Arms Legs Feet, JDH survived cancer, had a baby and broke both wrists after a 12-foot fall. With the soft crooning and slightly honeyed tragedy in his voice, “Quiet Noise” is a perfect summation of this artist’s life events. Read More »

The Chemical Brothers

Further (Parlophone)

Review By Adam Mannegren

Chemical Brothers - Further

Chemical Brothers - Further

The Chemical Brothers are truly veterans of the electronic music scene. With almost 20 years behind them, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons have transformed both their own sound and the entire dance music landscape. Their seventh studio album Further does not stay close to the big beat sound that made them huge, but instead takes listeners into the psychedelic realm that the Brothers are fond of. The album showcases some electro, a bit of an indie rock vibe, and a whole lot of distorted synthesizers, though hardly any guest appearances. What is especially refreshing about Further is that it really feels like an album instead of just a collection of singles. Tracks blend and weave together for a solid 52 minutes. They’ve used the whole album length as a canvas, which allows for impressive creative control. The first track “Snow” climbs to almost epic heights, in effect a huge intro before the kick-snare combo starts in in “Escape Velocity,” one of the album’s singles. Look out for “Horse Power”, which is a dark Detroit techno romp, with sampled horse neighing. Yup. Rich layers of distorted, classic synthesizer sound fill the album in a bubbling mass. Overall Further is a good showing from the Chemical Brothers, though not what most people will expect from them. Then again, twenty years in the scene surely gives them some creative license and of that, they took advantage.

Bad Fate

Olympic City (Radical Clatter)

Review By Katherine Boothroyd

Vancouver-based Bad Fate have delivered their debut album, Olympic City. It’s a garage rock, off kilter, crunchy, out of tune, indie madness, guitar mash of an album. And all that is packed into just seven songs!

Bad Fate’s sound is really a throwback to the early ‘90s slacker noise bands. Think Pavement with a dose of Dinosaur Jr. and you are on the right track. Great guitars, low key vocals and and a lot of noise.

“Brain Enthusiast” is the best track on the album by far. It’s a tight little tune that should be immediately added to your playlist this summer. “Mongrel MAN” is another standout with a greater sense of urgency than the other tracks. Veering off the indie road, it is a great pop song — but never fear kids, the distorted guitars are still here.

All in all, Olympic City is a great ode to the city that it was created in.

Bad Fate are hurtling across the country until mid-August, so try and catch them live if you can. Stay tuned folks: it will be interesting to see where Bad Fate go from here.

Stars

The Five Ghosts (Vagrant/Soft Revolution Records)

Review By Nathaniel Bryce

Stars - The Five Ghosts

Stars - The Five Ghosts

Prepare to fall in love upon listening to Stars new album, The Five Ghosts. If you enjoy the music this band has produced in the past nine or so years, then there is a good chance this album will stir up a lot of things in your body. It’s okay, let it happen. Awakenings and shakings of the soul never felt so good. Just as a great classic movie is a force unto itself, Stars are simply that. They make string-heavy music about death and the haunted, love, and the un-loved. They spin dour dramatic dance pop odes to heartbreak and getting revenge-drunk on brandy. They sing beautiful songs to the ghosts that haunt us when we sleep, make love, hate, crumble, pray and fade away. These are personal tales laid bare and spun into a kind of maudlin tragic comedy set to music under the strong guise of death and what comes next. Read More »

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