Fact 1: everyone in Past Lives are former members of the Blood Brothers. Fact 2: they sound almost nothing like the Blood Brothers. They have hung up the boots of screamy jazz fusion for a more indie rock feel. The EP that preceded this album was a collection of fast catchy rock songs; this album is neither. All of the songs are hypnotically slow and in the place of “catchy” is “eerie.” A huge portion of this has to do with Jordan Blilie’s vocals. He takes his John Lennon mutter to the extreme creating a tone of voice that may never have been heard in the genre. On top of this the vocal melodies are just plain weird; the listener will always expect different notes to be hit at the end of phrases, effectively confusing them. The instrumentation also creates its own level of creepiness by having the bass structured and rhythmic while the guitar is playing blue notes that should irk everyone just a little bit. This is one of those albums that must be listened to a number of times until one knows what to expect; only then will one be able to decide whether or not it’s good. For fans of… well, certainly not the Blood Brothers. (Suicide Squeeze, www.suicidesqueeze.net) Paul Nordin
Winnipeg music & culture since 1989