THE HIDDEN CAMERAS MISSISSAUGA, GODDAM Rough Trade Oh dear, The Hidden Cameras sounds like a rather twisted wreck of the flamboyant sexuality of the Scissor Sisters with the dark wit and tangled allusions to debauchery of The Beautiful South, the sing-along retro-chic of Belle and Sebastian and the awkward humanity found in all things by
THE FUNK ENSAMBLE “SKUNK” Purple Tracks From the label that has brought you KOT—”So Alive” (Purple Tracks) and the infamous Michelle Weeks “The Light” (Purple Music) comes the latest installment of funk and gospel. Produced by Dario Dattis (the man behind Inaya Day’s “Freedom” PM026), this Saturday-night church-floor-filler will keep your crowd in an ass-shaken’
The Dead Science Bird Bones in the Bughouse Absolutely Kosher The drummer plays in a jerky, attacking motion that reminds me of Tori Amos. The vocals are hushed, falsetto and reaching for a dramatic beauty that falls between the dissonance of the guitars and stand-up bass. It’s mutant jazz on downers twitching along in
The Cloud Room is a collection of finely crafted songs with great hooks and a sense of sincerity that is missing from the majority of this second-generation post-punk revolution. … read more
The Growlers = Not in the Face + Allah-Las + Beach Boys … read more
The Cannanes = Jem + Honeybunch … read more
The Cave Singers = Deer Tick + Delta Spirit … read more
Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh here, but I dreaded reviewing this album. Southern rock doesn’t have to be an homage to the dying art. I felt like I was overhearing a TV in the adjacent room playing one of those awkward Time-Life Singers and Songwriters commercials, but they were introducing a strange, assorted collection of ’70s and ’90s rock. … read more
What began as a labor of love for the Chapin Sisters has become a terrific installment to their catalogue, and even though the entire record is made up of Everly Brothers tunes, its almost as if the record is a collaboration of the two groups. … read more
Throughout Excavation, Bobby Krlic makes incredible use of his background in sound design. … read more
Psychobilly has an inherent problem in that the genre is a formula. Punk mixed with rockabilly decorated with horror imagery. Now by the time most bands have achieved those three elements they don’t seem to look beyond them, and that’s where the genre has become stagnant. Very few bands have been able to break the mold like The Brains. These Canadian psychos play at break neck speeds, but in some unholy way are still able to keep their songs highly melodic. … read more
The same rushed, distorted drumbeat for the EP’s short entirety might be too much without the simple and upbeat melodies played on a cheap-sounding keyboard or Catatonic Youth–style echoed noises—laser beams maybe? … read more
