! Exclaim.ca Reviews - Pop Rocks

Gold & Youth - Limits of Desire

editorial@exclaim.ca (Alex Hudson) — Sat, 18 May 2013 09:11:12 -0400

The members of Gold & Youth are relative newcomers to the world of electronic music, most of them having cut their teeth with the more rock-oriented Racoons, but Beyond Wilderness effectively captures the spirit of vintage synth-pop. The 11 songs that make up this debut album brim with expansive synths and chiming guitar licks, every one of which sounds sonically pristine. Not all of the melodies stick, meaning that the album is a tad uneven, but the band make up for this with some clear standout cuts; band member Louise Burns (a respected solo artist in her own right) takes the...Read More

Hooded Fang - Gravez

editorial@exclaim.ca (Jazz Monroe) — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:47 -0400

Should Toronto require some patron saints of indie, Hooded Fang would make ripe pickings. Band members April Aliermo and Dan Lee are two-thirds of DAPS, a respected T.O. label that's released Odonis Odonis, Moon King and Hooded Fang side-projects Hut and Phèdre. April, meanwhile, founded a creative playschool (substitute teachers include Maylee Todd and Henri Fabergé) where kids play musical instruments, sometimes on DAPS releases. That sense of community is undetectable on Gravez, a typically self-absorbed record that, like predecessor Tosta Mista, was apparently recorded in...Read More

The National - Trouble Will Find Me

editorial@exclaim.ca (Sarah Murphy) — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:34 -0400

It's a paradox of criticism: bands will either get flak for staying sonically stagnant or ripped apart for losing the signature qualities fans first admired. The National, however, have managed to perfect sounding like themselves while putting out consistently impressive and forward-marching music. Trouble Will Find Me is no different. Following 2010's massively successful High Violet, the new record reins it in and tones down the arena-ready rock with songs that are immediately recognizable as the National, but never come across as generic or insincere. Despite Matt Berninger's...Read More

Club 8 - Above The City

editorial@exclaim.ca (Michael Edwards) — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:17 -0400

By the time most bands get to their eighth album, they're recycling old ideas, but at least Club 8 have the good sense to do it with a certain amount of style. Above The City harkens back to their earlier days, when life was simpler and they leaned more towards the electronic realm. The music sounds deliberately dated, in part because it was produced using older software. This is immediately obvious on "I'm Not Gonna Grow Old," which nods to Rick Astley and might have some questioning whether they're being Rickrolled. The record works best when the songs are stripped down to just...Read More

Saturday Looks Good To Me - One Kiss Ends It All

editorial@exclaim.ca (Michael Edwards) — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:17 -0400

Despite not being the most prolific band lately, Saturday Looks Good To Me are still as reliable as ever. They've never wandered too far from the lo-fi indie pop template they first appeared on the scene with, and that hasn't changed with their fifth album, One Kiss Ends It All. What has changed, however, is the line-up. Fred Thomas, the ringleader of the band, is still here, as are a few other old friends, but he's joined by two new vocalists (Carol Catherine and Amber Fellows), although it doesn't make much difference to how the group sound. One Kiss Ends It All is the usual...Read More

Jenny Hval - Innocence is Kinky

editorial@exclaim.ca (Jazz Monroe) — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:22:22 -0400

Rightly glorified for the likes of ABBA, Björk and Sigur Rós, Scandinavia is generally viewed as a locale for considered, epic music; its beauty unrivalled in territories with inferior fjord-, mountain- and glacier-per-capita figures. It would be a shame, however, if that were always the case. Much like fellow Norwegians Sacred Harp (check out their modern-psych masterpiece, Window's a Fall), Jenny Hval plots a crude new point on the map of musical extremities. Innocence is Kinky is by turns surreal and hyper-real, a Lynch-ian underworld of avant-pop, alt-lit poetry and potent...Read More

Killing Joke - The Singles Collection: 1979-2012

editorial@exclaim.ca (Laura Wiebe) — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:29:06 -0400

This three-disc set isn't just a nostalgia-inducing reminder of Killing Joke's tremendous evolution since 1979; it also showcases the striking consistencies in the band's sound and ethos. The two main discs unfold chronologically, charting Killing Joke's subtle transformations over the years. The opening tracks, from "Nervous System" (1979) on, reveal a jangly, angular post-punk band with their politics on their (record) sleeve. By the end of disc one, we can hear a Killing Joke that have become more synth-driven and a touch more atmospheric. Disc two leaves the '80s behind, introducing a...Read More

Wild Nothing - Empty Estate

editorial@exclaim.ca (Whitney Tam) — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:26:41 -0400

With heavy, scuzzy opening guitar chords, it's clear that Empty Estate will be a departure from the silky, reverb-heavy, '80s-style dream pop that Virginia's Wild Nothing have become known for. There's a striking sense of command and confidence evident on this EP, which Tatum previously developed on sophomore album Nocturne and has fine-tuned here. This set expands upon the nostalgic aura of previous albums to include more electronic elements and a flurry of catchy synth riffs ("Ride"), focusing heavily on beats and bass lines that serve to consistently propel the collection...Read More

Kisses - Kids in L.A.

editorial@exclaim.ca (Michael Edwards) — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:13:38 -0400

Californian real-life couple Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson must be very happy together, because the music they make under the guise of Kisses is very cheerful indeed. Even when they try to act melancholy and indifferent, the glittery disco pop makes it impossible to wipe the smiles off their faces. There's nothing particularly innovative about what Kisses are doing on second album Kids In L.A., but they do it very well. These are no nonsense pop songs that push all the right buttons — they have catchy tunes, with that retro '80s synth sound everybody adores these days, building...Read More

The Phoenix Foundation - Fandango

editorial@exclaim.ca (Michael Edwards) — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:08:39 -0400

The Phoenix Foundation didn't make many waves outside their native New Zealand until their 2011 album, Buffalo, arrived on the scene. But rather than stick with its appealing poppy formula, they've taken a more prog-y route for fifth record Fandango, which wasn't the best idea. Clocking in at 78 minutes, Fandango is a lot to take in, especially upon first listen. Nothing happens quickly, with every song taking its time to slowly build towards an expected climax, although it doesn't always happen. And therein lies one of the album's main problems: making the listener stick...Read More

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

editorial@exclaim.ca (Stephen Carlick) — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:00:00 -0400

The disco blueprint laid out by "Get Lucky" begins on album opener (and mission statement) "Give Life Back to Music," on which Nile Rodgers lays down his trademark wah-wah guitars while the robots command the listener to "let the music make it right." From there, Random Access Memories is a thrilling, grandiose album that defies expectations. Recorded entirely on analog gear, Daft Punk's fourth studio album finds Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo revelling in the potential of big budget studios, enlisting a host of high-profile guests to contribute to a process that,...Read More

Pure X - Crawling Up the Stairs

editorial@exclaim.ca (Ian Gormely) — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:07:32 -0400

The title of this record is the perfect metaphor for Austin, TX band Pure X's evolving sound. On their great, though somewhat elusive, debut, Nate Grace's crooning vocals were buried under layers of ambient guitars. Here, they're slowly climbing out of the murk to take centre stage without abandoning the group's penchant for Galaxie 500-esque, floating vibes. The change is the product of a group finding their footing and playing to their strengths. Grace's voice fluctuates between a Jarvis Cocker speak-sing and soulful falsetto, creating tiny ambient pop masterpieces like the sublime "Someone...Read More

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

editorial@exclaim.ca (Stephen Carlick) — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:02:00 -0400

After the eager, school days feel of their debut and the worldly influences of Contra, Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig has called Modern Vampires of the City a return home, of sorts. It makes perfect sense; the album is both more mature and personal than anything they've done previously, providing a ruminative, thoughtful take on love and death seen through the prism of temporality: "Though we live on the U.S. dollar, you and me, we got our own sense of time," he sings on "Hannah Hunt"; "You and I will die unbelievers, tied to the tracks of the train" ("Unbelievers); "Wisdom's a...Read More

Small Black - Limits of Desire

editorial@exclaim.ca (Alex Hudson) — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:00:47 -0400

Small Black once specialized in a particularly noisy strain of chillwave, but they've since rounded off all the jagged edges from their sound in favour of glossy synths and crisp mid-tempo beats. Limits of Desire opener "Free at Dawn" sets the mood with heart-swelling chords that channel the cinematic earnestness of classic U2, and the rest of the album follows suit with teen movie keyboards and '80s-indebted pop anthems. The only trouble is that nearly every track captures the same sense of John Hughes-worthy nostalgia, with no cut standing out above the rest. Of the ten tracks, only...Read More

Decades - Decades

editorial@exclaim.ca (Duncan Boyd) — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:00:03 -0400

Toronto can be a pretty unforgiving city when it comes to aspiring musicians and artists. It's an expensive place for a band to live, and between touring, rehearsing and recording, it can be difficult to find a way to pay the bills. The city doesn't provide the type of environment in which artistic aspirations can be pursued half-heartedly — stringent hard work is a necessity. And in the end, as Toronto, ON-based quartet Decades have demonstrated on their self-titled debut, that committed work ethic the city forces upon its musicians often produces great results. Over the past two...Read More

Hanni El Khatib - Head in the Dirt

editorial@exclaim.ca (Jason Schneider) — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:35:36 -0400

If you've been thinking that every new rock band on the radio sounds like the Black Keys, it's no coincidence. Members Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have a pretty good production thing going on the side, with Auerbach in particular taking the breakthrough they made with 2010's Brothers to new commercial heights. Hanni El Khatib is the latest beneficiary, although he's been fully prepared, having made rumblings in the West coast garage rock scene over the past few years. Head in the Dirt definitely bears all the hallmarks of an Auerbach production — fuzz, funk and...Read More

Still Corners - Strange Pleasures

editorial@exclaim.ca (Duncan Boyd) — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:39:53 -0400

The formation of dream-pop twosome Still Corners was a product of fate. The duo of singer Tessa Murray and multi-instrumentalist Greg Hughes was formed when the latter decided to alter his career path on a whim and follow a love interest to London, leaving his native Austin, TX behind. Some time later, after getting off at the wrong train station, Hughes would have his first encounter with Murray, whom he would enlist as the missing piece in his musical project. Strange Pleasures, the second full-length from Still Corners, appropriately captures Hughes's ethos of letting go and...Read More

AA Wallace - (Disambiguation)

editorial@exclaim.ca (Ian Gormely) — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:09:51 -0400

A recent trend has seen every band and their dog ditching their guitars for keyboards, trading jangly indie rock for smooth '80s synth-pop. AA Wallace (the mastermind behind Halifax, NS rockers Sleepless Nights) follows suit on his solo debut. But where too many acts end up excising personality in favour of precision, (Disambiguation) maintains Wallace's idiosyncratic style of pop craftsmanship. Embracing a lo-fi aesthetic uncommon to these types of projects, the songs reflect Wallace's push-pull with modernity. With only eight tracks, numbers like the instrumental "Post-Mortem...Read More

Savages - Silence Yourself

editorial@exclaim.ca (Jazz Monroe) — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:47:37 -0400

Since Pop Art or earlier, serious UK artists have generally supported the idea that art and everyday life are indivisible. Popular logic, however, dictates otherwise: songs about sexual liberation, self-actualisation and social anxiety are quaint, old news, passé — why bother telling us what we already know? It's attitudes like these that London, UK post-punks Savages capably belittle on debut LP Silence Yourself. With vivacious percussion and carnivorous fretwork, the record blisters through themes of female emancipation ("She Will") and submissive sexual experiences ("Hit Me")...Read More

Deerhunter - Monomania

editorial@exclaim.ca (Cam Lindsay) — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:48:09 -0400

Deerhunter have always sought to make uncompromising rock music that splits its time between atmospheric psychedelia, simple pop songs and anarchic noise. Frontman/main songwriter Bradford Cox controls the group's volatility via his ever-changing moods, musical tastes and eccentric direction. For sixth album Monomania, Deerhunter joined Nicholas Vernhes in Brooklyn, NY's Rare Book Studio, and the result is their rawest recording since their debut. Described as a "nocturnal garage" record, Monomania is volatile, yet also strangely Deerhunter's most coherent release yet,...Read More

Michael Feuerstack - Tambourine Death Bed

editorial@exclaim.ca (Melody Lau) — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:03:01 -0400

There's a sense of directness on Michael Feuerstack's latest album, Tambourine Death Bed, from the abandonment of his previous moniker (Snailhouse) to the stripped-down motif of his minimal folk sounds. Tambourine Death Bed is the handwritten, personal letters we crave in a world of digitalized, characterless e-mails. The intimacy of Feuerstack's keen observations, whether in the flowers that grow in a city or the striking fact that "you're too young to be so old," hits listeners square between the eyes without any overcomplicated arrangements clouding the powerful significance...Read More

She & Him - Volume 3

editorial@exclaim.ca (Melody Lau) — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:01:39 -0400

Zooey Deschanel, the actress, is often criticized for playing the same character in every film and TV show, so much so that there's even a Saturday Night Live skit devoted to her zany, quirky roles. Zooey Deschanel, the musician, is gradually sliding down the same rabbit hole. Volume 3 reunites Deschanel with folk rocker M. Ward, but from songwriting to performance there's a heavier emphasis on the She than the Him. With 11 original songs by Deschanel and three covers, Volume 3 is brimming with sunshine pop melodies and saccharine harmonies. The production is clean and...Read More

Jim Guthrie - Takes Time

editorial@exclaim.ca (Ben Landau) — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:59:25 -0400

Nearly ten years removed from his last proper full-length (2003's Juno-nominated Now, More Than Ever), Jim Guthrie is finally back in the game, not that he hasn't been around. From scoring films and videogames to performing with about a zillion other bands (Royal City, Islands, Human Highway, etc.), Guthrie has been something of a hot commodity in the Canadian scene. And it's easy to see why. With Takes Time, the Toronto-based, Guelph-bred multi-instrumentalist has created a masterwork of stately, intelligent pop, at once gleefully anachronistic and deeply satisfying. Over the...Read More

Mikal Cronin - MCII

editorial@exclaim.ca (Duncan Boyd) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:17:32 -0400

Mikal Cronin is cautiously optimistic for the future. On sophomore solo release MCII, the Ty Segall collaborator mixes wistful pop with fuzzed-out guitar rock to celebrate the advent of life's new directions, even if they're haunted by the shadows of the past. A move to San Francisco and the end of a long relationship have seen Cronin's life change quite significantly in the past year, and on MCII, he sounds invigorated yet somehow apprehensive about his new place in the 21st century. On big album opener "Weight," major chords turn to minor as his youthful optimism sounds...Read More

The Graboids - Back to Perfection

editorial@exclaim.ca (Ian Gormely) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:42:40 -0400

Halifax pumps out idiosyncratic punk bands at a ridiculously quick clip. Coming hot on the heels of Cold Warps and the Long Weekends, the Graboids deliver a healthy dose of pop-culture and Ramones obsessions neatly wrapped in lightning fast hooks on this four-track seven-inch, the band's third. "Zombies Don't Have Girlfriends" is a clever riff on everybody's favourite walking undead, while "Your Mom's New Boyfriend," sympathizes with the children of single parents in the refrain, "It sucks your mom's new boyfriend's moving in." Poetry this isn't, but then anything more complex would miss the...Read More

So So Glos - Blowout

editorial@exclaim.ca (Duncan Boyd) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:50:30 -0400

According to their bio (which they wrote themselves), the So So Glos invented the term that now serves as their moniker to refer to individuals one may be inclined to describe as "too cool," "apathetic" or "self-obsessed." The NYC punk outfit decided to re-appropriate their slang term for jaded hipsters in order to "combat this type of behaviour." Unsurprisingly, on Blowout, So So Glos sound like anything but apathetic, dispirited city kids. The band combine the sing-along, gang vocals and wonderful sloppiness of drunken pub rock with a more inspired ambition to write big rock'n'roll...Read More

No Joy - Wait to Pleasure

editorial@exclaim.ca (Cam Lindsay) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:48:51 -0400

Montreal trio No Joy emerged in 2010 with Ghost Blonde, a debut album that wonderfully reimagined late '80s and early '90s Creation and 4AD shoegaze and dream pop as well as anybody in the last decade. Following last year's transitional Negaverse EP, the band recorded an entire LP, mixed by the Raveonettes' Sune Rose Wagner, only to turn around and scrap it for being "too weird." Heading into a proper studio with producer Jorge Elbrecht, No Joy indulged in their surroundings to make Wait to Pleasure. The upgrade to an outside producer benefits their seriously layered...Read More

Young Galaxy - Ultramarine

editorial@exclaim.ca (Alex Hudson) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:55:10 -0400

Young Galaxy received an icy electronic makeover on 2011's Shapeshifting, courtesy of Studio's Dan Lissvik, and the group opted to stick with the Swedish producer for the follow-up. Unlike their previous collaboration, which was conducted remotely via Skype, the band recorded Ultramarine with Lissvik in Gothenburg, and the results are once again sonically stunning. The lush, rhythm-oriented arrangements are gorgeously constructed, with standout moments including the touches of barroom piano on the funky "Out the Gate Backwards" and the percussive, 16-bit-sounding samples on...Read More

Phoenix - Bankrupt!

editorial@exclaim.ca (Melody Lau) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:49:33 -0400

When a band strike upon a winning formula, it's tough not to duplicate it in some form. Much of the blueprint of Phoenix's fifth album, Bankrupt!, follows its successful 2009 critical and commercial predecessor, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. From the grand opening numbers to the instrumental interludes mid-album, this new record looks to be travelling down a similar road, but sonically takes a different turn. Glossy synths override guitars throughout the record, which makes for the smooth entrance of faux-Asian opener "Entertainment," with its Korean-/Chinese-inspired scales, or...Read More

Iron & Wine - Ghost on Ghost

editorial@exclaim.ca (Alex Hudson) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:16:50 -0400

If you've ever searched for Iron and Wine at a record store, chances are that you've found songwriter Sam Beam's work in the folk section. The best moments of Ghost on Ghost, however, find him continuing to embrace the lush pop sound he's been moving towards in recent years. "The Desert Babbler" and "New Mexico's No Breeze" are ornately sunny tunes that embrace a smooth A.M. soul sound, while the sprightly bounce of "Grace for Saints and Ramblers" would sound right at home on one of Belle & Sebastian's recent albums. Unfortunately, not all of Ghost on Ghost is quite so...Read More

Shellshag - Shellshag Forever

editorial@exclaim.ca (Duncan Boyd) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:12:27 -0400

Back in the '90s, John Driver (aka Shellhead) and girlfriend Jennifer Shagawat decided to form a band, which they named Shellshag (get it?). With a minimalist combination of guitar, drums and vocals, Shellshag never had aspirations of worldwide stardom or acclaim. Driver and Shagawat were content to write songs about their affection for one another and perform them for friends at house parties and warehouses in their native NYC. More than ten years after their formation, Shell and Shag are still going strong, both as a band and as a couple, and with the release of the appropriately titled...Read More

Folly & the Hunter - Tragic Care

editorial@exclaim.ca (Melody Lau) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:12:52 -0400

If Icelandic rock band Sigur Rós buried themselves deep in the rural crevices of Canada, they'd re-emerge as Folly and the Hunter. This Montreal folk trio have an incredibly detailed hand for crafting musical landscapes, as evident in second album Tragic Care. Produced by the Besnard Lakes' Jace Lasek, who is no stranger to creating moving atmospheric works with his group, Folly and the Hunter have constructed a warm soundtrack to their many musical influences. The layered build of "Our Stories End" is a slow dance companion to Sigur Rós's cinematic masterpieces, whereas "Moth in the...Read More

The Belle Game - Ritual Tradition Habit

editorial@exclaim.ca (Melody Lau) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:11:07 -0400

Some might think that naming the Belle Game one of "Vancouver's best bands," an accolade bestowed upon them by The Georgia Straight in 2011, was a little premature. The group only had a couple of EPs to their name at the time and little else, but now that their first album is complete that early call looks like a fortuitous foresight. Ritual Tradition Habit is a strong, confident statement from an act that have a clearer vision than most groups crafting their third or fourth full-lengths, which is exactly what this feels like, as opposed to a debut. At the centre of it all is...Read More

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

editorial@exclaim.ca (Melody Lau) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:09:47 -0400

With Yeah Yeah Yeahs' last album, 2009's It's Blitz, the NYC trio threatened to abandon everything we've come to know and love about them. A slick stab at mainstream acceptance, with its synth-laden disco melodies, It's Blitz wasn't a failure by any means, just a slightly unnatural step away from their earlier works, which were teeming with raw, dishevelled punk anthems cutting your ears with sharp riffs and Karen O's unearthly growls. Thankfully, their latest, Mosquito, is a return of sorts to their grungy roots. In recent interviews, lead singer O has admitted to not...Read More

Born Ruffians - Birthmarks

editorial@exclaim.ca (Cam Lindsay) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:07:43 -0400

If there were such a thing as an award for "most improved band" in music, Born Ruffians would be worth betting on. While their last album, 2010's Say It, wasn't exactly the equivalent of a season batting around .200 or tossing 20-plus interceptions, it failed to turn heads and keep the momentum of their well-received debut going. For their third act, the Toronto, ON four-piece retreated to a farmhouse for some male bonding, then headed into a studio with producer Roger Leavens. The extra time and effort put into Birthmarks has resulted not just in the band's best album, but one...Read More

Fall Out Boy - Save Rock and Roll

editorial@exclaim.ca (Ian Gormely) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 16:46:05 -0400

Going out at your peak is great for your legacy, but it makes coming back (a foregone conclusion these days) that much more challenging. Fall Out Boy were acutely aware of this and recorded what became their return to the limelight in secret, just in case things didn't work out. Save Rock and Roll won't save anything, but it's a natural follow-up to 2008's Folie à Deux. The band's roots in Chicago's punk scene often obscures the contributions they've made in the pop world — their pop-rock-R&B hybrid was co-opted by everyone from Pink to Train in their absence — and...Read More

Odonis Odonis - Better

editorial@exclaim.ca (Ian Gormely) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 16:44:09 -0400

When Dean Tzenos dropped Odonis Odonis's debut, Hollandaze, back in 2011, he promised that a second record would follow just months later. That album never materialized (although demos are circling around online, if you're curious); instead we get this six-song EP to hold us over. Ditching that second album (which was recorded before Hollandaze) appears to have been the right move, as Better takes the sonic template set out on Odonis Odonis's debut and betters it (hence the title?). There's still plenty of noise washing over the Jesus and Mary Chain meets...Read More

The Thermals - Desperate Ground

editorial@exclaim.ca (Ian Gormely) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 16:41:38 -0400

With fuzzy garage bands coming out of the woodwork these days, you'd think old farts like the Thermals (they've been together for a decade, which is a lifetime in garage rocker years) would be pushed aside for new blood. But on Desperate Ground, the band's fifth full-length, the Portland, OR punks once again make a strong case for relevancy, not that they needed to. Desperate Ground sticks to the basic formula the Thermals have been perfecting their entire career, with Desperate Ground's pacing more in line with the break-neck speed of earlier releases, while producer...Read More

The Flaming Lips - The Terror

editorial@exclaim.ca (Stephen Carlick) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:10:54 -0400

Just a few weeks ago, when Wayne Coyne posted an abridged medley of songs from The Terror to the Flaming Lips' website, he also posted a long album manifesto. "The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on… we just go on… there is no mercy killing." He also wrote, a little more directly, that "The Terror is NOT fun…" He's right, but that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. If 2009's Embryonic expressed a long moment of chaos and destruction, The Terror is something like the immediate emotional aftermath — the damage has been...Read More

Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin

editorial@exclaim.ca (Josiah Hughes) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:02:31 -0400

From the tracks filling your hard-drive to the records monopolizing cubes in your Expedit shelving unit, Thee Oh Sees are an obscenely prolific band. Then there's their absurd touring schedule: an endless race around the world that means you've likely seen them a number of times. Like clockwork, 2013 is no different, with new LP Floating Coffin and another overwhelming tour schedule. Death and taxes, meet Thee Oh Sees. Before you start Googling to see if "Thee Oh Sees fatigue" is a real condition, give this new album a fighting chance. Sure, it's their seventh full-length since 2007,...Read More

Tera Melos - X'ed Out

editorial@exclaim.ca (Scott A. Gray) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:00:43 -0400

On 2010 masterpiece Patagonian Rats, the audio science shamans of Tera Melos threw down the gauntlet on what three humans armed with only traditional rock band instrumentation could achieve via the equal application of prodigious technical know-how and boundless creativity. With X'ed Out, the experimental rock trio set a new challenge for themselves: to create minimalist music as filtered through the innovative perspective of their ultra-complex, busier-than-bees-tweaking-on-amphetamines skill set. The result is a stunning balancing act between ingenuity and accessibility. For...Read More

Face to Face - Three Chords and a Half Truth

editorial@exclaim.ca (Ian Gormely) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:53:41 -0400

Face to Face are very good at being Face to Face. Their mix of lightning fast power chords, catchy hooks and sing-along choruses was the epitome of the Epitaph/Fat Wreck Chords sound of the mid-'90s (even if they only ever released one album on either of those labels). Yet throughout their career, the California pop-punkers have seen fit to mess with the formula, usually with less than stellar results. It's a little disconcerting to see the band make their biggest stylistic change this deep into their career, especially coming on the heels of comeback LP Laugh Now, Laugh Later....Read More

Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze

editorial@exclaim.ca (Alex Hudson) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:39:05 -0400

This isn't an album for those with short attention spans. Its 11 tracks stretch across two LPs and last for more than an hour, with many of the songs drawn out by extended guitar jams and lazily drawled verses. The titular opening track doesn't develop much throughout its nine-and-a-half-minute runtime, as laid-back rock rhythms and watery six-string licks stretch endlessly into the distance like a heartland highway. The sequencer-driven "Was All Talk" is a little brisker and quirkier, although its near-eight minutes are similarly repetitive — when Vile claims, "Making music is...Read More

Merchandise - Total Nite

editorial@exclaim.ca (Ian Gormely) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:36:53 -0400

While its '90s incarnation reduced it to a cartoon caricature of sad kids in makeup and black trench coats, goth spent its first decade as a major mainstream tributary. The guys in Merchandise know this, and mine many of that era's forgotten heroes (Siouxsie Sioux, the Sisters of Mercy) for sonic inspiration without the mopey theatrics that made the genre a four-letter word. Total Nite maintains early goth's mercurial aesthetic and might as well be a direct sequel to the band's last record, Children of Desire — there are no major sonic shifts or lyrical breakthroughs that...Read More

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - English Electric

editorial@exclaim.ca (Alan Ranta) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:34:01 -0400

From the opening synth stab and blonking chime of the "Please Remain Seated" intro, which sets the table for a modulated feminine voice to inform the listener that the future they anticipated has been cancelled, it's clear that the 12th studio album in the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark catalogue isn't an idle cash-grab. Rather, their second release in the 2010s with their original line-up of Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes, English Electric pushes the OMD aesthetic to a state that, in many ways, has advanced beyond their most recognized work from...Read More

Caveman - Caveman

editorial@exclaim.ca (Duncan Boyd) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:20:59 -0400

Brooklyn, NY's Caveman comprise five well-seasoned veterans of NYC's indie music scene. Over the past decade, the members have played in differing musical projects that, one by one, ended before Caveman formed as a cohesive unit. In 2011, they tentatively released their debut album, CoCo Beware, as a sort of experiment in progressive indie folk, which showcased both a wide array of influences and their clearly experienced musicianship. There was a certain carefree looseness about CoCo Beware, born of the fact that the group's ultimate aspirations were still uncertain at the time...Read More

The Postal Service - Give Up

editorial@exclaim.ca (Stephen Carlick) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:11:45 -0400

There are a handful of bands whose impostors, even when they fail to replicate the original's sound, still do it well; I'll listen, for example, to any band "for fans of My Bloody Valentine." Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello's the Postal Service are not one of those bands, but not because their debut album won't be forever revered by a surprisingly arena tour-sized millennial audience; it's just that Give Up walked a tightrope so fine that nobody, not even Gibbard and Tamborello, will likely ever be able to balance that well again. Yes, "Sleeping In" and "Clark Gable" are still sort of...Read More

James Blake - Overgrown

editorial@exclaim.ca (Stephen Carlick) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:06:28 -0400

James Blake drew a fair amount of criticism when he eschewed the dub-y, uptempo nature of his 2010 EPs for his languid, more verse-/chorus-based debut LP in 2011. Two years later, the shift is far less dramatic, but Blake finds himself moving further into traditional songwriting territory after his father reminded him that his two biggest hits — "The Wilhelm Scream" and "Limit to Your Love," penned by his dad and Feist, respectively — were written by others. Blake purportedly focused on his songwriting, inspired by a new relationship and the distance of non-stop touring, and the...Read More

Telekinesis - Dormarion

editorial@exclaim.ca (Jazz Monroe) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:40:00 -0400

Telekinesis main man Michael Benjamin Lerner, a chirpy musical sibling of Apples in Stereo and Death Cab for Cutie (whose Chris Walla produced both previous Telekinesis records), has hitherto made an admirable career exporting heartbroken, classic-sounding nuggets from his gleaming indie-pop lab. There's more of the same on Dormarion, the singing drummer's reliably affable third album for Merge, which has a little something for everyone, but stops short of total engagement, like a slightly too tipsy party host. Still, what Dormarion lacks in durability it makes up for in...Read More

Dutch Uncles - Out of Touch in the Wild

editorial@exclaim.ca (Michael Edwards) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:11:06 -0400

The UK is currently awash with bands making smarter pop music, such as Django Django and alt-J, who won last year's Mercury Music Prize for their debut. Manchester band Dutch Uncles haven't been quite so lucky when it comes to universal acclaim, but their third album is at least a baby step in the right direction. With their obtuse arrangements and skittering rhythms, there's no doubt that Dutch Uncles are trying their utmost to buck the conventions of mainstream pop, but whether they are actually successful is up for debate. They share some of the prog-y sensibilities of labelmates Field...Read More