CD Reviews
Artist: The Populars
Title: The Vindicator LP
Label: Kindling Music
Year: 2005
4 / 5
The Vindicator LP is the debut album of Ontario lo-fi power-trio the Populars, and it’s a rock album that absolutely shines. The Populars blend an old school Can-rock songwriting approach with some choice synthesizing (very lightly, of course; not the shiny overproduction trap that some bands fall into) and a deluge of minor but noticeable influences, combining the whole thing into a lopsided but mostly magnificent disc.
There are some absolutely fantastic songs on this album, songs that I would gladly champion as some of the best Canadian rock written in a very long time. “Megalove” in particular is a song that I would not mind having played behind me 24 hours a day. (Although I guess that would eventually start to bug my cat.)
At its best, the band sounds like a new-millennium blend of Big Sugar and the Pursuit of Happiness (which is, trust me, very good indeed); at its worst, which would definitely be the track “Away From It All,” the music sounds like something that R.E.M. threw away.
There’s a lot of terrific material on The Vindicator LP, branching into a variety of influences and styles while still maintaining a solid foundation. If you don’t mind skipping over the inevitable one or two tracks that won’t do anything for you, you’ll have a ball with this disc.
James Howard, Volunteer Staff
Artist: The Bled
Title: Found in the Flood
Label: Vagrant Records (Universal)
Year: 2005
1 / 5
I blame Dream Theater for this album.
No, Dream Theater doesn’t have anything to do with this album. Not directly. But it’s Dream Theater that made the prog-metal genre viable, and Dream Theater is a very talented group that made their shtick work. Therefore, if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have to put up with far less talented acts now trying to do the same thing.
I bring this up for a reason, as you’ve probably guessed, and that reason is the Bled’s Found in the Flood. I can only assume that this is supposed to be a concept album, given that the boring songs awkwardly segue into one another rather than end, and given that none of the high-faluting lyrics are about anything we’re supposed to understand. (“Stranded, a nocturnal hellhole / I have a dread of becoming a martyr / pry it out, pry it out / pavement.” Yes, really.)
The album is 70 minutes long, and the last of the 10 tracks clocks in at 38 minutes. Of those 38 minutes — and unfortunately I’m not making this up — over 25 are spent solely on an endlessly-repeated pattern of four harmonic guitar notes.
This review is me doing my part for future generations. I sat through this in its entirety so that you never, ever have to.
James Howard, Volunteer Staff
Artist: Controller.Controller
Title: X-Amounts
Label: Paper Bag/Universal
Year: 2005
2 / 5
X-Amounts definitely has the feel of the indie-rock blended with danceable beats and dark imagery that the band is known for, so if that sounds good to you, pick this up and enjoy a solid 40 minutes of exactly that. You also have to give Nirmala Basnayake kudos for her strong vocals, which set the band apart from the other dance-rockers that have popped up over the last couple of years like Metric and Hot Hot Heat. Controller.Controller is like their aggressive cousin who inherited all the balls in the bloodstream.
It seems that the more words you use to describe and classify a band’s sound, the more you limit their range — but in this case, it’s like Controller.Controller did this to themselves by leaving their song-writing machine on repeat and releasing an album with no real stand-out singles. When the track changes on X-Amounts, it is hard to ignore the déjà vu — that you have heard this beat and sound before — on the previous track and all before and after it. As an EP this would have worked, but for a full-length album, the repetition of dancing to 11 similar songs becomes tiresome.
Kyle Lamothe, Staff
Artist: City and Colour
Title: Sometimes
Label: Dine Alone Records
Year: 2005
4 / 5
Sometimes is filled to the brim with heartbreak and sorrow. Dallas Green, one of the vocalists and guitarists from highly-acclaimed screamo band Alexisonfire, is City and Colour. One listen to any song proves that Green has a different agenda for his solo album. Armed with only an acoustic guitar and at times a piano, Green bares his soul for listeners. This album has no screaming rants, just Green’s soothing voice.
His calming vocals put any listener at ease. The acoustic music puts you in a trance — no, more like a mellow, contemplative mood. Green’s introspective lyrics open pages to his life story. With several references to travels in Canada, from Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Saskatoon, most Canadians can relate to his experiences or realize how it would feel to tour across this continent with a buzzing band.
“Save your Scissors” is an honest recap of his love life. On “Like Knives,” Green reminisces about the harsh words of a lost love. “Hello, I’m in Delaware” is where Green is most thought-provoking, asking where is his life going. Other recommended songs are “Comin’ Home,” “Casey’s Song” and “Sometimes (I Wish).” The album’s only flaw is that if left playing, one cannot really tell songs apart from one another.
Navin Bahl, Staff
Artist: The Go! Team
Title: Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Label: Sony
Year: 2005
4.5 / 5
It was via the song “Huddle Formation” that I was first introduced to the Brighton-based sextet, The Go! Team. The song is just over three thrillingly good minutes of questionably intelligible, Double Dutch-style schoolyard chants, thundering against wildly careening guitars; there’s a 5! 6! 7! 8! cheerleader cry, and the whole thing eventually erupts into what sounds like a chorus of cheering children. It is, in short, one of the most perfect songs I’ve ever heard. And while the rest of the Mercury Prize-nominated Thunder, Lightning, Strike never quite matches the feverish intensity of this most auspicious of debuts, the band certainly makes a valiant effort. Theirs is a sunny, sentimental repertoire of nostalgic tunes, evoking influences as diverse as Salt-n-Pepa, Sonic Youth and the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, replete with horn section and a wistful harmonica.
But The Go! Team transcends the cultural necrophilia of the other pretenders to the retro pop throne by cobbling together these disparate elements into something both new and deliriously fun. And though — through no fault of its own — it remains to be seen how fresh this album will sound in a few years, the band’s palpable excitement and enthusiasm make for one of this year’s most infectious listens.
Cam Bush
Artist: Octoberman
Title: These Trails Old and New
Label: White Whale Records
Year: 2005
4.5 / 5
These Trails Old and New is the debut recording by Vancouver ‘band’ Octoberman. I have ‘band’ in scare-quotes because this recording sounds like the work of a singer-songwriter and indeed it is. Marc Morrissette is the mastermind behind this disc, but deems it necessary to credit his many friends who have lent their musical abilities to benefit this recording.
On the Octoberman website, Morrissette claims that a 2003 trek through Europe and Asia was the inspiration for this solid album, which opens appropriately with “X-Pat,” a clever track that asks, “In your own country, who needs a flag on your back?” After that, Octoberman takes the listener on a journey away from home in a very soothing way. If you listen carefully, you hear the jet take off for Japan in “Tokyo Nightmare.” This album is a must for anyone who is planning a trip anytime soon, or even for those of you who want to pretend you’re on one now.
If you want to go out on a limb this year and buy an album that isn’t by one of your favourite bands, you should make it this one. And hey, if you don’t like it that much, Christmas is coming up and someone in your family would probably appreciate a free CD.
Derek Sawatzky
Artist: Liz Phair
Title: Somebody’s Miracle
Label: Capitol
Year: 2005
2 / 5
Well there’s obviously no returning to the old Liz Phair, clearly shown by her fifth and latest album Somebody’s Miracle. A huge fan of Phair’s first and well-known cult favourite in lo-fi music, Exile In Guyville, I have to tell those other fans that this latest release is no miracle. Many people will agree that this album has a great chance at commercial radio stardom, and this is obviously what Phair is gearing towards. Recorded in California, this album is toe-tapping, pop-rock with slight blues and was produced by John Alagio (John Mayer) and John Shanks (Ashlee Simpson). Aren’t there enough Sheryl Crow records in this world? What did Phair think when she agreed to a lap guitar on “Got My Own Thing”? Phair’s solid writing and lyrical beating is still evident: it is beat down with over production and voice distortions in tracks like “Count On My Love.” Phair’s last self-titled album had an adult language advisory on the front cover, but rest assured those faint of heart/young teens — this album doesn’t even have innuendoes of any adult fun. If this album merits any warning on the front it would be: “Used for the T.V. show the O.C.” And that’s probably what Phair would want.
L. Garlicki
Artist: The Afterbeat
Title: Personals
Label: Bacteria Buffet Records
Year: 2005
3 / 5
Winnipeg ska-scene cornerstones the Afterbeat have popped up again with a new album, Personals, which falters quite noticeably in a couple places but otherwise delivers a strong overall showcase of the band’s recent work.
There were clearly some very strange, very questionable choices made in the selection of this album’s track list. The album opens with a solid, up tempo, danceable piece that sets a good tone for the rest of the album — but then the second track, “Ruptura,” is just a minute and a half of weird fuzz and muted music that completely halts the momentum of the first track. That’s one example; another example is the end track, “The System,” which is four and a half minutes of really good music drowned out by what sounds like an automated female phone-chat voice.
With that said, these are complaints that do not outweigh the rest of the album. The strongest aspect of the album is definitely the terrific rhythm section work throughout, particularly the bass; the horn section does a great job as well. I’ve always found both the male and female vocalists of the band to be hit-or-miss, and that doesn’t change with this album, but there’s easily enough good on the disc to balance out the shortcomings and push forward. It’s ska. You can dance to it. Mission accomplished.
James Howard, Volunteer Staff
Artist: Funkservice International
Title: A Post Modern Life
Label: B&B Records AB (Aporia Records)
Year: 2005
1.5 / 5
An important warning — this album is nowhere near as funky as the name of the band would indicate. Do not be fooled!
So what, then, does the oddly-named Swedish sextet Funkservice International play? It’s not very easy to describe what their debut album, A Post Modern Life, sounds like — and it’s not very easy to like it, either, but we’ll get to that in a second. The best way of imagining the music is to blend the vocals of Bet.e & Stef with the synth-lounge-jazz backing of St. Germain, then remove most of the songwriting talent from either band and skip the part where any effort is made to have the vocals and the music mesh successfully.
If this doesn’t sound too promising, well, that’s because it isn’t. There are a few good ideas on the CD, and these translate into the album’s better instrumental tracks, but most of the time the album just fails to click properly into whatever it’s trying for. Remember how lame it was when the latest James Bond movie had him doing tricks on a surfboard? Listening to this album feels like watching an extended 44-minute version of that scene — a well-meaning but clumsy attempt to be both stylish and accessible that ends up being neither.
