! Exclaim.ca Reviews - Pop Rocks

Muse - The Resistance

Daniel Sylvester — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:53:33 EST

You can fault English southerners Muse for a number of things ― coming off as Radiohead rip-offs, major label pawns or even pretentious rock stars ― but you can't deny their overarching ambition and wild abandon. The Resistance, the tri...

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Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come

Eric Hill — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:34:55 EST

Folk storytellers from Dylan to Sufjan have pulled the bible from the drawer for inspiration, but on this 17th the Mountain Goats album, religious faith functions more as frame and touchstone than pure source. One of John Darnielle's key narratives over t...

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Jamie T - Kings & Queens

Jessica Lewis — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:11:33 EST

Londoner Jamie T is back with Kings & Queens, an 11-track long night out. From getting stoned in the first song, "368," to a sobering realization of communication problems in "Jilly Armeen," T (for Treays) lays it all out on the floor in his tradem...

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Modernboys Moderngirls - I Might As Well Break It

Jessica Lewis — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:10:46 EST

Looking for a rowdy good time, the cast of Modernboys Moderngirls (Akira Alemany, Brett Millius and Juan Carlos Rivas) have taken on every essence of their album title. With the beer swilling, body-swaying voice of Alemany against the backdrop of lighter ...

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Language-Arts - Where Were You in the Wild?

Jessica Lewis — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:09:27 EST

This album is mostly soothing and subdued, with Kristen Cudmore's voice making quick, pointed gestures. It's a colourful contrast, but one that has morphed into a setting that's more a lively painting than a basic rainbow. "Cavity" sets the folk-tinged ja...

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Honest I’s - Anatomy of Lightbulbs

Jessica Lewis — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:08:26 EST

This six-song EP introduces the Toronto, ON band with quite the hearty shake. Crafted in 2008, when they were a trio, these songs flow together perfectly for a few reasons. Front-man Stephen Cornwell's throaty baritone, matched by the dark night experienc...

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Dragonette - Fixin to Thrill

Jessica Lewis — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:07:31 EST

Toronto, ON's dance-loving rockers are back with their sophomore release, full of heavy synths and other electronic instrumentation, as well as choruses bursting with memory-sticking potential. Front-woman Martina Sorbara deliberately floats between ident...

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Capybara - Try Brother

Eric Hill — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:21:53 EST

Is it fair to be especially impressed when a new band you fancy come not from New York, Toronto, Los Angeles or Montreal but Kansas? Capybara have succeeded in wooing me to their Midwest vantage with their nice guy energy, falsetto harmonies, limber synco...

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Hallelujah The Hills - Colonial Drones

Eric Hill — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:02:12 EST

When the acoustic guitar introduces "The Might Come Back Club," the second track on this Boston crew's second album, I am faced with the dilemma of whether or not to suppress the obvious but clichéd Neutral Milk Hotel comparison. Obviously expressi...

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Black Heart Procession - Six

Eric Hill — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:01:22 EST

A big part of BHP's early appeal was their almost cartoonishly bleak approach to mood and tempo. Their first three albums were snail-paced, psychogeographic tours of dim gothic vagaries with much chain rattling and singing saws. After a couple of pattern ...

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Wild Beasts - Two Dancers

Cam Lindsay — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:54:48 EST

That a band make a better sophomore album than a debut in this age is almost impossible. But English outfit Wild Beasts have done it, as well as earned their buzz on Two Dancers, rather than last year's greatly unappreciated debut, Limbo Panto
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The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love

Cam Lindsay — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:53:56 EST

If the Big Pink are the shoegazers everyone describes them as then somebody needs to start checking their urine because there's definitely some steroid use going on. The layers in their music may be dense and the guitars do chime with reverb but their con...

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El Perro del Mar - Love Is Not Pop

Brock Thiessen — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:52:49 EST

Despite last year's From the Valley to the Stars coming across as a letdown, El Perro Del Mar has righted all wrongs with mini-album follow-up Love Is Not Pop. Like her self-titled 2006 breakthrough LP, the Swede pop chanteuse (born Sarah As...

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Alec Ounsworth - Mo Beauty

Stephen Carlick — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:12:08 EST

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah front-man Alec Ounsworth will have released two albums by the end of this year. In August, he released the debut album from his Flashy Python project, a gritty, bass-heavy garage album characterized by his signature musical loosen...

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The Swell Season - Strict Joy

Jessica Lewis — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:51:48 EST

They've done it. The Swell Season, the Oscar-winning international duo of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, have found a way to make the most uncomfortable moments in a relationship comfortable. Packed with so much emotion but still bearable, Strict Jo...

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Glass Ghost - Idol Omen

Eric Hill — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:41:24 EST

Like warm air meeting a cool, dry flow, this is the ghost of a perfect storm in a water glass. Eliot Krimsky and Mike Johnson are a duo from Brooklyn that combine bare bones beat production, tracing from RZA to Dilla, and the prismatic detail of downtown ...

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Do Make Say Think - Other Truths

Vish Khanna — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:23:38 EST

Though they've never been predictable, twisting and turning down a veering path of whatever post-rock is supposed to be, Do Make Say Think strike a reflective tone on the wondrous Other Truths. By their own reckoning, Do Make's previous acclaimed r...

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Manic Street Preachers - Journal for Plague Lovers

Cam Lindsay — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:43:40 EST

Before its release, the ninth Manics album was widely anticipated as a return to the days when they were brash, glammed-up pot stirrers. The trio announced they were using what was left of late member Richey Edwards' lyrics and Steve Albini would be behin...

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Cold Cave - Love Comes Close

Cam Lindsay — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:41:55 EST

Wes Eisold is a pretty resourceful guy. A member of hardcore bands like Give Up the Ghost and Some Girls, founder of publishing company Heartworm Press and plagiarized by Fall Out Boy, Eisold has saved his best work for Cold Cave. A collaboration with for...

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Atlas Sound - Logos

Cam Lindsay — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:40:59 EST

The second Atlas Sound record comes with a bit of back-story. An unfinished version of Logos leaked well over a year ago, and Bradford Cox originally said he would never release it. However, recognizing the potential in what he had composed, he end...

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Alan Singley And Pants Machine - Feelin’ Citrus

Michael Edwards — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:36:17 EST

On the surface, Alan Singley doesn't appear to make the best decisions. After all, he actually chose to name his band Pants Machine and is under the impression that it's the type of moniker that will draw people in. The sad thing is once you get past the ...

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Purrs - The Purrs

Michael Edwards — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:35:05 EST

The Purrs might be from Seattle but they seem determined to convince listeners they actually hail from the other side of Atlantic. With a sound that mixes equal parts Oasis and the Verve, for better or worse, it's like the mid-'90s all over again. There's...

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Twin Atlantic - Vivarium

Michael Edwards — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:34:12 EST

While it seems that every other band in Scotland are aligning themselves with Mogwai and the Twilight Sad on some level, Twin Atlantic have apparently found themselves a different mentor. While it might be very easy to make the comparison to fellow Scots ...

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The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - …And The Horse You Rode In On

Michael Edwards — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:32:27 EST

It goes without saying that the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir have nothing to do with any part of their name. Instead, they've made two albums of comically dark indie pop that revelled in their gentleness and fragility. Their third album, …And The ...

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Those Bastard Souls - Twentieth Century Chemical

Michael Edwards — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:31:29 EST

If the Grifters are one of those long forgotten '90s indie bands than Those Bastard Souls would barely register as a blip on most people's musical radars. They were originally a side-project for Grifter Dave Shouse, which became a full-blown band when the...

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Duplex! - Worser

Rachel Sanders — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:30:25 EST

Four years after their refreshingly unique debut, Ablum, Vancouver, BC-based, Veda Hille-fronted children's band Duplex! are back with another album full of eccentric tunes for kids and their keepers. Worser is an eclectic collection that in...

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Jesse Harris - Watching the Sky

Rachel Sanders — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:29:19 EST

With his perfectly pleasant pop sensibility and writing credits for several of Norah Jones's biggest hits (including the Grammy-winning "Don't Know Why"), Brooklyn, NY's Jesse Harris should be better known. On his eighth release, Harris's sweetly catchy m...

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Hope Sandoval & the Warm Intentions - Through the Devil Softly

Daniel Sylvester — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:20:18 EST

It's been eight years since former Mazzy Star vocalist Hope Sandoval and writing partner Colm " Cíosóig (drummer for My Bloody Valentine) released their debut, Bavarian Fruit Bread. Follow-up Through the Devil Softly finds Hope...

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Florence and the Machine - Lungs

Daniel Sylvester — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:19:21 EST

Only in a land where Dizzee Rascal scores three consecutive number one singles can the eternally lingering sounds of London, England's Florence and the Machine be considered a commercial juggernaut. On the strength of five top 100 singles, Lungs, t...

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Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy

Brock Thiessen — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:18:25 EST

There's no question 2009 has been a big year for Kurt Vile. Not only did the Philly psych-folk songwriter re-release his 2008 debut, Constant Hitmaker, and follow it up with the stellar God Is Saying This to You, but he was plucked from the ...

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Os Mutantes - Haih or Baraúna

Alex Molotkow — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:17:25 EST

Comebacks are rarely done well ― few artists can make the same glorious racket at 60 they could at 18. As a result, news of Os Mutantes' first studio album in decades was bittersweet. What the "Brazilian Beatles" did in the late '60s was ingenious i...

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The Carolyn Hester Coalition - The Carolyn Hester Coalition / Magazine

Alex Molotkow — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:16:30 EST

The cover of the first Caroline Hester Coalition record features a blonde, longhaired Hester, breasts barely contained by an embroidered vest, hugging three very nebbish fellows to her waist. Despite appearances, Hester was not an adult movie star and her...

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Pisces - A Lovely Sight

Alex Molotkow — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:15:39 EST

Pisces's A Lovely Sight ― not a long-lost but an unreleased gem ― seems to come out of nowhere. And that's because it does. Consisting of a core duo of Rockford, IL townies with a studio and a few tricks up their sleeves, Pisces were an...

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James Husband - A Parallax I

Scott Tavener — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:13:38 EST

Like his day-job band (of Montreal), James Husband's solo work shows off an affinity for poppy hooks, albeit without any out-there/glam sojourns. And therein is A Parallax I's chief problem: it's a pleasant, often-shiny record that's never particul...

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Tickley Feather - Hors D’oeuvres

Eric Hill — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:07:53 EST

Part Grouper, part Ariel Pink, all Tickley Feather, Annie Sachs easily qualifies for the Animal Collective roster of artists unconcerned with things like temporality, instrumental adeptness or anything but heart and chutzpah. With junk shop keyboard sound...

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Left Lane Cruiser - All You Can Eat

Jason Schneider — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:04:41 EST

If this Indiana duo's debut album, Bring Yo' Ass To The Table, was merely an invitation to sample their bill of fare, then this follow-up certainly lives up to its title. All You Can Eat is another taut 35-minute blast of raw garage blues bu...

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The Black Crowes - Before The Frost…

Jason Schneider — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:03:34 EST

If there were any doubts left that Chris and Rich Robinson's ultimate wish would be to transport themselves back to the Nixon era, they've made that abundantly clear on this unabashedly earthy effort. In many ways, Before The Frost… is a muc...

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Music Go Music - Expressions

Daniel Sylvester — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:00:01 EST

Culled from a series of twelve-inch records released over the last two years, Los Angeles disco-ists Music Go Music's debut LP will undoubtedly draw comparisons to '70s post-AM radio stalwarts like ABBA, Electric Light Orchestra and the Carpenters. As som...

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Clientele - Bonfires On The Heath

Michael Edwards — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:56:59 EST

The Clientele have carved themselves a rather narrow but fertile niche in the indie pop world, making lovely, quiet psychedelic music. From their early singles to their past couple of classic albums for Merge, they've established themselves as the worthy ...

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White Rainbow - New Clouds

Daniel Sylvester — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:54:40 EST

Founding member of space rock revivalists Yume Bitsu and Surface of Eceon, Adam Forkner's third proper LP as White Rainbow demonstrates the spirit of Kranky Records' newest line-up of forward thinking, cohabiting artists. Lending his hand to acts like Jac...

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After the Weather - By Flashing Lights and True Love

Jessica Lewis — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:24:35 EST

First, this album is best listened to in close proximity or through ear-covering headphones. Second, this record should be appreciated for its long, drawn-out simplicity. There's nothing overly "oh my god, I'm going to run-around my neighbourhood screamin...

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The Happy Hollows - Spells

Jessica Lewis — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:23:44 EST

For a debut release, it's hard not to fall under the Happy Hollows' Spells. The strong opening track, "Faces," constructs a world of suspense and elation, and is damn catchy, setting the bar high. But once that feeling subsides, getting into the re...

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York Redoubt - York Redoubt

Ian Gormely — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:22:45 EST

York Redoubt's debut record is a sonic blast of fun and pop hooks buried under a warm layer of feedback and guitar squelches. Far from confrontational, the quartet, which include members of Tomcat Combat and the Got to Get Got, spice their instrumental fr...

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Sondre Lerche - Heartbeat Radio

Ian Gormely — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:21:51 EST

After charming European audiences and North American critics with his debut, Faces Down, Norwegian Sondre Lerche has spent the ensuing years stylistically diversifying his sound with a steady stream of albums, EPs and singles. With "Two Way Monolog...

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Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs

Scott Tavener — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:54:49 EST

Muso favourite Yo La Tengo's umpteenth disc, Popular Songs, brims with affable, clean-cut tracks, especially the Clientele-evoking "All Your Secrets" and the Belle and Sebastian-nodding twee-per "Avalon or Someone Very Similar." However, its booken...

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The Temper Trap - Conditions

Jessica Lewis — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:49:36 EST

This is the wonderful debut album from four fun-loving natives of Melbourne, Australia. Packed with a big sound (they're already filling arenas in the land down under and the UK), uplifting melodies and characteristically friendly guitars, the pop rock on...

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Grooms - Rejoicer

Brock Thiessen — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:47:16 EST

Brooklyn, NY's Grooms like to play both sides of the field, dishing out tunes that are as jarring as they are pop friendly. One moment you'll get a full on, distortion-loaded, feedback-hungry racket and the next straight-up ear-grabbing melodies, with one...

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Mocky - Saskamodie

Kerry Doole — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:38:06 EST

Dominic Salole (aka Mocky) has sure come a long way from his Saskatchewan roots. This multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/producer has long been based in Europe, where he has collaborated extensively with both fellow Canucks (Feist, Gonzalez, Taylor Savvy) a...

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Lou Barlow - Goodnight Unknown

Vish Khanna — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:53:21 EST

As things have come full circle for Lou Barlow in recent years, it's fitting that Goodnight Unknown is an alluring pastiche of all the sonic styles he's heralded over the past 20 years. In revisiting his integral roles in influential underground ro...

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Music Go Music - Expressions

Cam Lindsay — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:49:47 EST

The year isn't 1976 but if it was you can bet Music Go Music would be selling out arenas and blaring from all the roller discos. In 2009, however, they're a curiosity signed to Secretly Canadian, featuring a guitarist that once went by the handle "the Con...

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Matthew Good - Vancouver

Jessica Lewis — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:48:48 EST

Unfortunately, Vancouver doesn't present itself as the best healthy antidote to Good's previous record, Hospital Music. It pushes hard towards anthemic arena (or radio, at least) rock but every song follows the same direction of instruments ...

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Dead Man's Bones - Dead Man’s Bones

Josiah Hughes — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:42:14 EST

It's impossible not to mention it, so let's get it out of the way: actor Ryan Gosling is one of the key members in Dead Man's Bones. But even more so than She & Him or Phantom Planet, Gosling's status as a Hollywood heartthrob is entirely irrelevant. Dead...

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Lou Barlow - Goodnight Unknown

Daniel Sylvester — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:38:55 EST

It's too bad ol' Lou already used up the title Emoh on his debut solo album, as the 14 songs found on his sophomore release, Goodnight Unknown, convey the home recording sentiment much more clearly. Oddly hiring nu-metal producer Andrew "Mud...

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A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

Daniel Sylvester — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:37:35 EST

It makes complete sense that Oliver Ackermann (vocalist and guitarist for Brooklyn three-piece A Place to Bury Stranger) builds custom guitar effect pedals under the company name Death by Audio. With clients ranging from My Bloody Valentine to Lightning B...

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Nutsak - Failed Musician

Vish Khanna — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:03:43 EST

On paper or on record, Montreal's Nutsak are pretty strange. As they're fond of saying, Nutsak are what happen when a Francophone, an Anglophone, an Arab and a Jew convene to make some irreverent rock music and, while it's tricky to spot this cultural ama...

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The Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead

Michael Edwards — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:53:14 EST

It was always going to be interesting to see how the Twilight Sad were going to approach the supposedly "difficult" second album. Just like fellow Scots Mogwai, they appeared on the scene with a stunning debut that used something of a formula with incredi...

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Early Day Miners - The Treatment

Eric Hill — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:52:20 EST

The intro moments of "In the Fire" will startle some into double-checking the album information. After all, Early Day Miners songs have normally tended to propagate like pollen, not bounce on a bass pulse. On their sixth full-length in ten years, the Indi...

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Lights - Rites

Eric Hill — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:51:28 EST

Visual artists that also essay double majors in rock, like Brooklyn, NY's Lights, tend to bring an interestingly bric-a-brac approach to songcraft. Sophia Knapp and Linnea Vedder mix their palette colours with classic rock shades that range from Zeppelin'...

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Reigning Sound - Love and Curses

Cam Lindsay — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:40:29 EST

Greg Cartwright is the sort of figure that'll likely go down as a god and cult hero to a select few, instead of everyone, because of his band's inability to cross over. But, trust me, it's not for a lack of releasing some of the best rock'n'roll of the la...

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The Fresh & Onlys - Grey-Eyed Girls

Cam Lindsay — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:39:10 EST

There's something about coming from San Francisco and putting out lo-fi records. Alongside Ty Segall, Nodzzz, Thee Oh Sees and Sic Alps, the Fresh & Onlys hail from the Bay Area and love their beaten-up garage music. And like those bands, this foursome ma...

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Experimental Dental School - Forest Field

Scott A. Gray — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:38:09 EST

This talented twosome continue their streak of weird rock awesomeness with Forest Field. Experimental Dental School mine a musical vein somewhere between Sonic Youth and Deerhoof, consistently freakier and more inventive than the former and less sc...

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Picastro - Become Secret

Scott A. Gray — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:34:48 EST

Citing Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic tome, The Road, as inspiration, Picastro conjure an appropriately haunting audio landscape with Become Secret. An oppressive atmosphere manifests itself through gaunt arrangements of cello, piano, gu...

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Girl Loves Distortion - You Better Run, Your Highness

Jessica Lewis — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:33:42 EST

Washington, DC-based Girl Loves Distortion create the sound so common in their home city it's as if they've recently graduated from the garage to the small club. They're not hardcore punk like their historic predecessors but they do come with a twinge of ...

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Rubik - Dada Bandits

Jessica Lewis — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:32:47 EST

On Dada Bandits, Rubik sing like every song is the end, so they have to make it the most epic, tripped-out explosion whether it's a big bang or a sedated revelation. It works for these Finnish lads ― their ever-changing tempos lead to more an...

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Fun. - Aim and Ignite

Jessica Lewis — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:31:53 EST

Avid followers of now defunct American indie pop bands Steel Train, Anathallo and the Format have been eagerly awaiting this super-group debut, and now they're most likely quite satisfied with it. Formed by vocalist/guitarist Jack Antonoff (Steel Train), ...

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Kill the Lights - Fog Area

Jessica Lewis — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:30:59 EST

Kill the Lights have been yanked back and forth for the past few years, but on Fog Area they've finally settled into something more their style. After moving back to Montreal from Toronto in April 2008, they recorded 12 songs with the Besnard Lake'...

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La Roux - La Roux

Daniel Sylvester — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:14:14 EST

Elly Jackson (vocalist and co-writer for Brixton synth pop revivalists La Roux) comes across as utterly desperate on her band's self-titled debut. Not in a needing someone to love her way, as La Roux's shit-hot status in the UK will no doubt provide suffi...

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Various - Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy

Daniel Sylvester — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:12:49 EST

Last year, Mark Mulcahy, former vocalist for New Haven, Connecticut '80s college rockers Miracle Legion, lost his wife suddenly, leaving him to care for his three-year-old twins. To help Mulcahy continue his music career, artists like Tom Yorke, Michael S...

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Grass - Rogue Waves

Sheena Lyonnais — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:11:29 EST

Canada's response to the Beatles comes in the form of Nova Scotia's the Grass, unfortunately 40 years too late. But the decades passed don't stop this five-piece from tearing into 12 psychedelic rock tracks on fourth full-length album Rogue Waves. ...

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The Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead

Cam Lindsay — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:47:44 EST

Far too often, bands try too hard on that "difficult" second album. With the pressure on, it's usually the time to try something new to avoid repetition, but Glasgow downers the Twilight Sad have stuck with it. Forget the Night Ahead doesn't mess w...

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Times New Viking - Born Again Revisited

Cam Lindsay — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:46:57 EST

Now that lo-fi is the production style of choice by virtually half the new bands out there the backlash is in full effect. But "shitgaze" originators Times New Viking aren't changing a thing on their fourth album. Despite advertising the sound as "25 perc...

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A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar

Cam Lindsay — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:45:57 EST

Philadelphia, PA's A Sunny Day In Glasgow made their introduction as prolific sound sculptors back in 2007 with the Scribble Music Journal LP and Tout New Age EP. With celestial sounds that had people reaching for genre tags like "shoegaze" ...

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So Cow - So Cow

Cam Lindsay — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:45:11 EST

Did you hear the one about the Irishman in South Korea that recorded a lifetime supply of lo-fi paeans? That's the story of the oddly named So Cow, featuring a man named Brian Kelly, who's been making self-recorded music for a few years now. Deciding to g...

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Darlings - Yeah I Know

Cam Lindsay — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:43:46 EST

If you can drag yourself away from the handsome-looking pamphlet that acts as the CD case you'll be pleasantly surprised by what this NYC four-piece offer musically. There's undeniable coolness to Darlings that no doubt has a lot to do with their geograph...

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Moneen - The World I Want To Leave Behind

Travis Persaud — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:40:19 EST

Gone are the paragraph-long song titles, the endless whirls of delay and other anonymous sounds, and the havoc-wreaking start-stop tempo changes throughout songs. Moneen haven't thrown in the towel; they've simply moved on. While this could technically ma...

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Hidden Cameras - Origin:Orphan

Ian Gormely — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:26:58 EST

While the Hidden Cameras' last record didn't translate critical acclaim into mainstream acceptance, the Toronto, ON-based collective are certainly not resting on their laurels. Though the band may have reached a relative glass ceiling of success, their cr...

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Why? - Eskimo Snow

Josiah Hughes — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:21:56 EST

Only a year has passed since the release of post-hip-hop trio Why?'s previous album, Alopecia, and yet here they are again to challenge listeners with another record of their weirdo pop songs. Eskimo Snow is accurately described by the band ...

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David Bazan - Curse Your Branches

Josiah Hughes — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:20:58 EST

Following the demise of Christian indie rockers Pedro the Lion, the project's brain trust, David Bazan, pursued a solo career that's so far culminated in the Fewer Moving Parts EP and now Curse Your Branches, his debut full-length as a solo ...

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Manvils - The Manvils

Michael Edwards — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:02:58 EST

Vancouver, BC band the Manvils don't waste any time on their self-titled second album, coming out of the gates full of swagger and playing like they don't plan on taking any prisoners. That sort of approach, along with plenty of guitar hooks and vocal har...

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Liam Finn & Eliza Jane - Champagne In Seashells

Michael Edwards — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:01:47 EST

The inevitability of Liam Finn pursuing a musical career must have weighed on him for a long, long time. As the son of Crowded House's Neil Finn, he was well known in New Zealand as part of Betchadupa before his solo debut in 2007, which, not surprisingly...

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Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer

Michael Edwards — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:58:01 EST

As the highlight of last year's Furr, "Black River Killer" found Blitzen Trapper spinning a Dylan-esque yarn of murder that's been resurrected for a new seven-track EP, sold as a CD-R at the band's recent live shows. Now officially released, it's t...

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Octoberman - Fortresses

Michael Edwards — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:55:07 EST

Marc Morissette's journey as Octoberman has always threatened to be more rewarding than his recorded output. At times, the songs that he wrote as he travelled around were quite compelling, but there was too much filler to recommend either of his earlier a...

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Broken Bricks - Pasquale

Michael Edwards — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:54:03 EST

Toronto, ON band Broken Bricks don't hide behind anything on their debut ― the production is sparse, as is the instrumentation ― so all they have to fall back on are their songs. And for the most part, those songs do a pretty good job holding ...

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Abernethy - The World Outside The Window

Michael Edwards — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:53:05 EST

Vancouver, BC native Joe Abernethy writes literate love songs but has his own way of performing them. The World Outside The Window, like its predecessor, is a difficult album to pin down because it has such an unusual sound. Abernethy's delivery is...

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Polvo - In Prism

Vish Khanna — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:51:57 EST

After dissolving 11 years ago, Chapel Hill's Polvo return with In Prism, but unfortunately not quite to form. One of the most distinctive and fearless post-punk bands of the '90s, Polvo were rightly compared to Sonic Youth for their artful attentio...

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Julie Fader - Outside In

Vish Khanna — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:50:37 EST

Gifted songwriter/musical gun for hire Julie Fader patiently waited to offer up her debut full-length, and it's safe to say that, with the star-studded Outside In, the deliberation was worth it. If Fader's name is familiar it's because she's spent ...

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Copilots - Escape Through the Trees

Vish Khanna — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:49:31 EST

On their sophomore effort, Vancouver, BC's Copilots retain their penchant for engagingly off-kilter rock while exploring a dynamic range of moods that helps Escape Through the Trees stand out from the pack. Leader Skye Brooks is a talented musician...

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Vic Chesnutt - At the Cut

Vish Khanna — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:48:19 EST

Returning to Montreal with Fugazi's Guy Picciotto in tow, Vic Chesnutt makes another bold pronouncement of his artistic prowess with the soulful, stirring At the Cut. Under filmmaker Jem Cohen's direction, Chesnutt established ties with Constellati...

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Spiral Beach - The Only Really Thing

Daniel Sylvester — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:46:49 EST

As the Toronto, ON four-piece corkscrew into their long, dark 20s, Spiral Beach find themselves six years into a career that has them exploring new territories with heaping amounts of poise and vision. The Only Really Thing, the band's third LP, co...

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Dishwasher / Cotton Mouth - Dishwasher / Cotton Mouth

Daniel Sylvester — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:44:55 EST

Although Montreal trio Think About Life have been largely ignored by critics, the band seem determined to break through with myriad projects, à la Broken Social Scene and Wolf Parade. Vocalist Martin Cesar has followed in the footsteps of guitarist Graham...

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Thomas - Self-Help

Nick Storring — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:28:03 EST

With a breathless, melismatic delivery that recalls Prince, Kate Bush and Mark Hollis (of later period Talk Talk), Thom Gill, vocalist/guitarist of his eponymous band Thomas, injects a mannered sensuousness into what would otherwise be a rather cerebral a...

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Ramona Falls - Intuit

Eric Hill — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:05:29 EST

In a recent Wire article, the already maligned term "hypnagogic pop" was coined by David Keenan to pigeonhole the sound of bands like Emeralds and Pocahaunted. While his "dream pop hallucination of the '80s" tag doesn't exactly nail down Brent Knop...

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Dial M for Murder! - Fiction of Her Dreams

Eric Hill — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:04:29 EST

The initial knee-jerk is to kick DMFM! atop the teetering pile of Interpol/Joy Division sound-alikes that have been stacking up since, well, Interpol. The Swedish duo of David Ortenlöf and Andy Lantto surely wouldn't dispute a kinship to this tribe, ...

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To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie - Marlone

Eric Hill — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:00:08 EST

For their second full-length, Minnesota duo Jehna Wilhelm, and Mark McGee have kept the spectral qualities from The Patron but appear much less concerned with demolishing their haunted house to get out. Their wracked electronics have been largely r...

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General Elektriks - Good City For Dreamers

Kevin Jones — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:56:10 EST

If the imagined joy of the multi-instrumentalist producer rests in the freedom to craft a record around their wildest influences and inclinations, then French sound curator Hervé Salters makes quite an effort to live that freedom with his sophomore Genera...

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The Paper Cranes - Chivalry’s Dead

Ian Gormely — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:35:24 EST

Unfamiliar Records has been on quite the tear lately, putting out excellent releases from the likes of Japandroids and the Clips. Now we have the second full-length from this Victoria, BC quintet hot on the heels of last year's Halcyon Days. The Cr...

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Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

Ian Gormely — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:34:29 EST

Nobody expected the Arctic Monkeys to survive the hype generated by their debut album. But here we are, three records and a highly successful side-project later, and the UK quartet are still going strong, unwilling to rest their hat on any one sound. Thir...

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Spirits - Spirits

Jessica Lewis — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:48:52 EST

This Southern Ontario band have finally released their debut album after starting up in 2006 as a side-project super-group. The trio of Ian Smith, Brad Germain and Nick Skalkos bring the pop dance moves out of the dark, mixing in electronic keyboard or dr...

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Black Feather - Silhouette

Eric Hill — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:46:31 EST

The talent pool of Norway's Jaga Jazzist was incontestably fjord deep, though the evidence we North Americans witnessed usually had to do with their killer horn section. So, this first solo effort by guitarist Harald Frøland, which pours all of its...

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The Inner Banks - Songs from Disko Bay

Jessica Lewis — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:45:01 EST

Starting off this album of eight slow psychedelic songs with one that's warped, glowing and full of different instrumentation and arrangements named "Lemon Tree" is more than just promising, it's sweet. It, as well as the rest of the songs, breeds life in...

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