Review of Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (Metric)

Originally written for the music review contest at Music Emissions. Check out the site!

"Old world underground, where are you now?" are the first words Emily Haines belts out on this record, and the energy hardly drops for forty minutes. Backed by her synthesizer and James Shaw (Guitar, Vocals), Josh Winstead (Bass), and Joules Scott-Key (Drums), the first release from Canadian indie band Metric is solid all the way through.

There's so much to be said for this album. If you'd have asked me hours ago, I'd have told you that the synth-supported indie wasn't really my thing. The synthesizer is used very judiciously, almost cleverly. It's almost always there, but it adds to the sound, rather than trying to be the sound. The musicians are quite proficient, and beyond that, they know how to play as a group, which is rare for a first release. I'm personally extremely enamoured with the skills of Joules Scott-Key. Drumming is often the difference between mediocre and good music, and the simple yet appropriate drums on this album do not disappoint me. Call me converted, I guess.

Personally, I prefer the more energetic songs, like I.O.U., Succexy, and Dead Disco. Some of the more mellow songs, like Hustle Rose, drag just a little, which is something that I hope the band has dealt with in its next release. You can be sure I'll be checking that out! I'm quite impressed with vocalist Emily Haines, I should add. Her style is edgy without being obnoxious, and it really adds to the music. Having listened to her other sometimes-act Broken Social Scene, I can tell you without hesitation that she ought to focus on Metric and forget the broken Broken Social Scene.

This is quite possibly the most gushing review I've ever written. The album is by no means perfect, but the little nagging things that bother me are hard to pinpoint and name, so I'll leave them as an open-ended statement. All told, this album has been my most pleasant surprise lately. Support Canadian music, and encourage bands like this to keep making music. Brilliant album, so listen to it already!

Review of Phantom Power (The Tragically Hip)

This review was written for the Music Emissions website. Check out this review, and check out the website!

Phantom Power is the seventh full-length release by Canadian alternative rock band the Tragically Hip. The band consists of Gordon Downie (Vocals), Rob Baker (Guitar), Paul Langlois (Guitar), Gord Sinclair (Bass), and Johnny Fay (Drums). "Phantom Power" refers to a manner of powering microphones and other digital equipment with direct current power.

There's a whole lot to be said for this album. On it are some of my favourite Tragically Hip songs, including Poets and Fireworks. These upbeat songs feature some wonderful guitar work; I'm particularly enamoured with the way the acoustic guitar and electric guitar sound together. Fireworks is just a great, catchy tune with some memorable lyrics: "You said you didn't give a crap* about hockey/And I'd never seen someone say that before/You held my hand and we walked home the long way/You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr." Some of the slower songs are excellent as well, like Bobcaygeon, winner of a Juno award (Canadian Music, for those in the south) for best single the year it was released.

There's not much I can say to the negative on this album. A couple of the songs, like Vapour Trails and Membership drag a little, but every album has its black sheep. This album is almost as good as Fully Completely, which is high praise from me.

I'm a huge fan of this album. With the tempo up or down, the Tragically Hip have hit a winner with Phantom Power. Gordon Downie's voice is a treat to listen to, the guitars work brilliantly in tandem, and the album simply rocks. So go listen to it already.

*Yes, I know that's not the word he uses here, but kids might read this.

Review of Sessions EP (The Two Koreas)

This review was written for the Music Emissions website. Check out the review, and check out the site!


The Two Koreas, Canadian indie rock band, are back with their newest EP, Sessions. This is a long EP, almost forty minutes, with seven tracks. The Two Koreas are Stuart Berman (Vocals), Kieran Grant (Guitar), Ian Worang (Bass), Jason Anderson (Keyboards), and David Gee (Drums). On their myspace page, the band likens the EP's release to that of a "blog-post update", reminding us that they are still kicking and still working after a long wait.

There are a couple really catchy songs on this little recording. One of my favourites is Withering Heights, the first track on the album. It's straight through with jangly guitars and a thrumming rhythm, and is definitely the highlight of the album for me. Boy Teen Oslo has some great guitar work, and the bass line is simple and effective throughout. I also quite like Cloth Coat Revolution for the discordant guitar noise and the drum work that keeps it all together.

While the album has some wonderful points, the negatives are also there. Personally, I'm not wild about Berman's vocals, but I understand there's a great deal of subjectivity in that statement. The EP is, as I mentioned, quite long, and sometimes the pace drags through some of the comparatively slower-paced songs such as Steely Can and Hotel Christiana.

All told, this album is pretty good. There's a lot about it that I like, and only a couple things that I don't. With the Sessions EP, the Two Koreas have hit most of the right bases. You should listen to it, it's the work of a band that's still moving forwards, and that's a fairly refreshing.

Review of Fallow (The Weakerthans)

The Weakerthans are an indie rock band from Canada, formed by John K. Samson, formerly of Propaghandi. With him are John P. Sutton (Bass) and Jason Tait (Drums); Fallow is their first release. It's unlike anything Samson ever did with Propaghandi, where the former was known for being loud and irreverent, Fallow is a mostly introspective rock/folk album.

Samson, incidentally, wrote every song on the album, and his lyrics are quite strong. As an aside, the first I ever heard of this band was from another brilliant lyricist, Ron Hawkins. In the song "Casual Overdose" on the album Sordid Fiction, he writes "It's the closeness that separates/An awkwardly eloquent toast/From a casual overdose/Of punk rock and Chinatown hum/'Til we both are overcome/So we join our trembling hands/And clap for the Weakerthans". Like Hawkins, Samson's lyrics are poetic, and humble enough that you can tell he doesn't take himself too seriously. By way of an example, the song "Confessions Of A Futon-Revolutionist" contains the lyrics "Let's lay our bad day down here, dear and make-believe we're strong, or hum some protest song. Like maybe 'We Shall Overcome Someday.'"

In the negative, the music is not entirely original. It's pretty standard rock/folk fare, which is great if you're like me and like that kind of thing, but if you're not and you don't, this album might get old pretty fast. Also in the negative is the song "Leash". I'm not really quite sure what he was going for with that discordant guitar noise, but maybe he should leave that to Sonic Youth or somebody who knows what to do with it.

Despite the weak music and odd experiments, Fallow coasts to victory on the back of Samson's lyrics. I really like this album, and I'm proud to be from the same country as these guys.

Review of Crocodile (Echo and the Bunnymen)

This review was originally written for the Music Emission website. Check out the review, and the site!

Crocodiles is the first full-length release by post-punk band Echo and the Bunnymen. At the time of release, the band consisted of Ian McCulloch (Vocals, Guitar), Will Sergeant (Lead Guitar), Les Pattinson (Bass), and Pete de Freitas (Drums). I will be reviewing the UK LP release, which had ten tracks, as opposed to the American release which had twelve.

The musicianship on this album is nothing special. The band shows themselves to be reasonably competent at composing music and playing their instruments. The music itself is pretty standard post-punk fare, with a bit of a dark edge to it. Haunting tunes, such as Monkeys and Stars are Stars are emotionally and eerily powerful, and definitely a plus for me. While McCulloch's voice does nothing for me personally, his vocal style is at least unique.

In the negative, the album has a stretch of boring songs, wherein the musicianship is fine but the music leaves me waiting for the song to flip past. This begins around the title track, into Rescue, and continues for much of the rest of the album. Fans of The Cure, I predict, will either like it for sounding similar, or hate it for sounding similar but falling short. It is by no means a ripping off, but the elements the band puts forward are not as distinct as they might be.

All told, this album is extremely middle of the road. I find it neither excellent nor repugnant. Echo and the Bunnymen are neither excruciatingly bad, nor are they the Gods of post-punk (as they had been hyped to me). I wish this review could be longer, and I wish Crocodiles had given me more to speak about. If you're hard up for finding something you haven't heard before, go ahead and check this album out, otherwise I'd probably wait until more desperation set in.

Review of Back In The D.H.S.S. (Half Man Half Biscuit)

This review was written for Music Emissions, a great music resource. Check out this review, and check out the site!

Half Man Half Biscuit is a post-punk group that absolutely refuses to take itself seriously, and Back In The D.H.S.S. is their first full-length release. Consisting of Nigel Blackwell (Vocals, Guitar), Neil Crossley (Bass), Simon Blackwell (Lead Guitar), Paul Wright (Drums), and David Lloyd (Keyboard), the band lampoons plenty of English celebrities I'd never heard of, like Bob Todd and Fred Titmus.

This album makes me laugh pretty hard. It's completely and utterly ridiculous. Nigel Blackwell writes lyrics like:

Oh I was walking round my local store
I was searching for the ten pence off Lenor
When suddenly I bumped into this guy
On seeing who it was I gave a cry
“Fuckin’ ‘Ell, It’s Fred Titmus!”

After I did the research, I discovered that Fred Titmus was a cricket player who had played for about five decades. The entire album is chock-full of references like this, ninety percent of which I'm sure passed me right by. Other highlights on the album included 99% Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd (Bob Todd was a comic actor, often working as a straight man for Benny Hill and Spike Milligan), and The Len Ganley Stance (Len Ganley was a snooker referee).

Musically, the album is fairly weak. The musicians have some talent, and it comes out the songs previously mentioned, but for most of the album it sounds as though they didn't care enough to bring that talent to each recording. It's understandable and forgivable, though, being the first recording in a rather under-furnished studio. In addition to the flat music, there are some tracks that are just too odd for words, like Time Flys By (When You're The Driver Of A Train) and I Love You Because (You Look Like Jim Reeves) -- Writer of songs such as Silver Bells and Blue Christmas.

All told, Back In The D.H.S.S. has a great amount of silliness, which can be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the musicianship of Half Man Half Biscuit falls short, and might make this album difficult to listen to. I enjoyed reading about the characters mentioned in the songs more than I enjoyed listening to most of them, and that's not something that should ever happen. Don't let this album prevent you from checking out the band, though. I promise you I've peeked ahead and there is better stuff to come.

We Have A Winner!

As a number of my friends are aware, I was taking place in an Album Review contest for the past two weeks. If you weren't aware, this probably explains the massive amounts of reviews I've been writing lately.

Well, I won. This is very exciting, but it also comes with a fair amount of responsibility, like writing 3-5 reviews a week. I think I can do it, but it'll be tricky when I go away for the summer. I have a plan, but no sense in boring everyone with it.

One of the more interesting bits of winning this contest is that I won 10 CDs. I had to pick from a list, and it was 20 CDs long, and I had only heard of one of the bands on it. I'll post it here, and anybody who knows these acts can feel free to advise me for a couple days.

Lykke Li - Little Bit EP
Circa Survive - On Letting Go
The Sound Of Animals Fighting - Tiger and the Duke
Voodoo Glow Skulls - Southern California Street Music
Shout Out Louds - Our Ill Wills
Kelly Willis - Translated From Love
Mustard Plug - In Black and White
The Fall of Troy - Manipulator
Modern Life Is War - Midnight In America
Chiodos - Bone Palace Ballet
Tim Armstrong - A Poets Life
Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams
Dengue Fever - Venus On Earth
The Junior Varsity - Cinematographic
Putumayo World Hits
In Flames - A Sense Of Purpose
Dizzee Rascal - Maths and English
The Sword - Gods of the Earth
Russian Circles - Station
The Replacements - Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?
Retribution Gospel Choir

That's my list. What do you think?

Review of Silent Alarm (Bloc Party)

Sadly, Bloc Party will never get another chance at a first full-length album. The band consists of Kele Okereke (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar), Russel Lissack (Lead Guitar), Gordon Moakes (Bass), and Matt Tong (Drums). The band's sound can only be described as recycled post-punk, and this recycling is not going to help prevent global warming.

In the positive, I have to disagree with the esteemed reviewer when he says, "[T]he band is at their absolute worst when they try to slow down the tempo and write atmospheric ballads such as on 'Blue Light' and 'So Here We Are.'" I found "Blue Light" to be one of the most interesting songs on the album, with the drums making sounds other than the droning "thump thump thump" found on the rest of the album. Well, I suppose the reviewer was half-right: "So Here We Are" was terrible.

In the negative is just about the rest of the album. John Henry Heinz once said, "To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success." Silent Alarm is certainly not uncommon, drawing heavily from the styles of bands like Joy Division and Gang of Four. Unfortunately, the common sounds are not done uncommonly well, and the album falls flat. This album is just boring. I think almost actually fell asleep while listening. It's no secret that I prefer up-tempo styles, but this is just dreadful.

While my friends know that I hold no great love for Joy Division or Gang of Four, my advice is this: Skip this album, put some of your old Joy Division vinyl on, and save yourself the money it would cost you to listen to the copy-cat. Furthermore, if you have a young friend who is drawn in by this album, have them listen to your Joy Division with you, and save them from the rebranding of old music.

Note: This review makes reference to a review on the Music Emissions website. That review can be found here.