Author: Jenny

The first thing I ever heard by Arab Strap was their final release that coincided with their breakup. Bollocks!! Ever since then, I’ve been picking up albums and singles and trying to complete my collection. I found out about this fantastic box set while looking for the Girls of Summer EP, which is among the countless treasures found in this box. Here’s what you get: five LPs containing the first two fantastic albums, The Week Never Starts Around Here and Philophobia, as well as a two-LP collection of the first two Peel Sessions, rare tracks (that, with the Singles CD included here, make the expensive/rare Japan-only Singles CD unnecessary to track down) and a brand new song that the duo reunited to complete just for this box. You get a cassette repro of the demo that got them signed to Chemikal, in all of its lo-fi goodness. And there’s another CD with two full concerts, both recorded for the Peel show, including their first ever gig in full! The song “Gilded” from this show is pretty quick and rough for an Arab Strap song and was included on their farewell album, and that drunken energy is unleashed here. What a fantastic live band. And lastly, there’s a data disc included that gives MP3s of all of the vinyl and cassette only portions of this box. Having the Peel Sessions and the rare tracks digitally is great, but the best part is hearing the demo in full whenever I want to. And as if that’s not enough, there’s a SURPRISE! file on the disc that includes the other five bedroom demos not ever released before! Plus plenty of reading material in poster-form of clippings from the era collected here from local Falkirk papers, plus the autographed and numbered (out of 1000!) card from Malcolm and Aidan, well, you’d have to be completely knackered to not think this is a great find. If you love the emotional, out-there, thick-brogued Strap, then you’d be mental to pass this up. (Chemikal Underground, www.chemical.co.uk) Patrick Michalishyn

Hamilton-based rockers Young Rival have put together a solid collection of songs in their self-titled debut disc. Recalling the likes of other Canadian rockers like Tricky Woo or even Thrush Hermit, Young Rival seek to do one thing, and one thing only: create a rock sound that pays tribute to the genre while avoiding the temptations to revert to rockisms overdone by many before them. In this sense the album proves to be a success, avoiding sounding completely like a period piece while still maintaining a solid eye for rock history. Of the eleven tracks, leadoff “Got What You Need” and “Modern Life” stand out the most. Both consist of simple yet catchy guitar riffs back by a solid vocal performance by lead vocalist Aron D’Alesio. The end result is a collection of works from which the band can continue to build on as they attempt to establish themselves as one of the country’s stronger rock acts. (Sonic Unyon, www.sonicunyon.com) Jeff Friesen

Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart has never shied away from difficult emotional topics. The last six albums from this band have all featured heart-on-sleeve lyrics, imbuing an incredible pathos that runs contrary to the dense, often cold pop arrangements that have typically characterized Stewart’s catalogue. Dear God, I Hate Myself continues that brashness, a record full of thick post-modern instrumentation, the occasional fuzzy guitar, and Stewart’s quivering vocals, which bounce between almost-crooning and arty shoegazing. It’s a record as weird and engaging as anything else this group has released but remarkably more self-aware and mature. The record title alone may lead most listeners to believe that Stewart’s actually gained a sense of humour, and they wouldn’t be wrong. Opener “Gray Death” sees Stewart crying “If you expect me to be outrageous/ I will be extra-outrageous,” while colourful electronics whirr in the background in classic verse-chorus-verse formation, capturing Xiu Xiu’s best ironic imitation of mainstream pop. Similarly, “Chocolate Makes You Happy” and “This Too Shall Pass Away (For Freddy)” feature some infectious refrains—despite the lyrical themes of bulimia suicide—that still manage to stand up as some of the best songs of Stewart’s career. It’s the sound of a man is trying to have more fun. Dear God, I Hate Myself is still very much a Xiu Xiu album, but instantly more accessible and immediate than anything the band has done before. (Kill Rock Stars, www.killrockstars.com) Kevan Hannah

Replacing the locatedness of their earlier albums with a misguided appeal to the masses, Athens, Ga.’s the Whigs, with their third release In the Dark, have produced a clear dud of a record. “Boring” is perhaps the best way to describe the record as the band has taken away all the interesting references to their homeland and replaced them with generic anthem-rock clichés and lyrics that are unnecessarily meaningless and naïve. Take the first single “Kill Me Carolyne” as an example. Sonically, the track could have been made by any number of bands and it would have sounded the same. This could just as easily been a song written by the Killers or even Muse, as it follows the typical verse-chorus-verse formula, revolving around an over-produced sound sucking any creative fragment or fracture out of the bands aesthetic. And then the lyrics “You give me the authority/ you give me the authority/ you give me the authority/ to lie.” And then about a minute later comes “You give me eternity/you give me eternity/you give me eternity to die.” Really? If you’re going to use repetition, it’s usually a good idea to make sure what you’re saying is actually worth repeating. Perhaps I’m being too harsh, but I can’t help but see this record as failing on so many different levels. Considering that In the Dark was created by a band previously so attuned to its surroundings, it’s shocking to see them putting out such an abstract and opaque piece of work. Pass on this one, folks. (ATO Records, www.atorecords.com) Jeff Friesen

Describing themselves as obnoxious porn rock, Wank Punter is the intellectual and musical equivalent of a teenager’s wet dream. The genre title is apt because just like porn the songs are poorly scripted, the acting/singing is terrible, the songs seem to be written over a weekend and there is little interest in giving more then one take. Songs about glory holes, porn stars and other crude sexual humour that may be construed as funny if the band wasn’t so sad. Like a twelfth-rate Kid Rock (and I fucking hate Kid Rock) this band is fronted by the rap/rocking Joey Bigapini which embodies every over-sexualized, cocaine-addled rock star cliché and then some. The real kicker is that the band is so creative that producer Mark “Feedback” Nakamura had to write all their forgettable smutty tunes such as “Bionic Chronic” and “Love You Long Time.” Despite Wank Punter’s many, many, failings as an entity, it’s strangely intriguing. Much like Troma films or Asian-singing sensation Wing or reality TV, Wank Punter might be so lame, puerile and horrifically corny that it might actually be a hit for all the wrong reasons. (Blue Sapphire Music, www.wankpunter.com) Kent Davies

New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus have released one of the old stand-bys in music: the concept album. On their follow-up to 2008’s The Airing of Grievances, the punk rock band writes an album loosely based on the American Civil War. Throughout the album, the band has guests (including the Hold Steady’s Craig Finn and the Vivian Girls’ Cassie Ramone) reading excerpts from speeches and poetry from the time period. But the album has a lot more depth beneath the surface. It uses the civil as a metaphor for modern American political discord. It is an ambitious album, and one that works most of the time. While listening to the album, one can see the multitude of influences, such as the Pogues, the Hold Steady, and the Replacements throughout the album. Production wise, the album is an improvement over its predecessor. It is less lo-fi than Grievances, but is not over-produced either. It still has the raw, in-your-face fury the band is known for. This is not an album of singles. The songs are meant to be listened to in the context of the album. There are only two songs on the album that are shorter than five minutes. The longest song, “The Battle of Hampton Roads,” clocks in at 14 minutes long. It is also the highlight of the album, building from a simple punk rock beat, to a middle section that would not feel out of place in an arena setting, and finally throws a bagpipe solo near the end. Epic is the only word I can use to describe it. Go out and get this album now. It is my favorite album so far this year. Highest possible recommendation. (XL Recordings, www.xlrecordings.com) Charles Lefebvre

With a voice that has an ethereal quality, sounding both innocent and weathered at the same time, Karyn Ellis follows the tradition of the Canadian folk songbird started by Kate and Anna McGarrigle. The third album from Ellis displays a range of genres, from country on “Bitter Grasses,” a send-off to an old flame, to the orchestral overtones of “Beauty.” Even Though the Sky was Falling sounds concisely constructed to show off a range of influences. Considering it has been almost five years since her last album Hearts Fall, Ellis obviously took her time to do so. While the album at times sounds a little too much like a handful of other female folk-pop musicians that tend to pop onto sappy Grey’s Anatomy soundtracks, there is a certain lack of polish to Ellis’s music that gives her an edge above them.  Gems like “Not Looking for Love” show off a unique sound that is all her own. Unlike her peers, it doesn’t sound like she cares if she fits into any sort of package that might be easier to sell and although at times a bit awkward, Even Though the Sky Was Falling is better than a soundtrack to a corny medical drama any day. (Mathilde’s Home Productions, www.karynellis.com) Sarah Petz

Amidst working with King Khan under the name BBQ and collaborating with King Khan and the Black Lips as the Almighty Defenders, Mark Sultan had time in 2008 to record $, an album full of doo-wop-influenced garage rock. Now, the taste du jour is definitely straightforward garage rock, ask no questions. And here Sultan’s got a bunch of tracks here that do just that—“Status,” “I’ll Be Loving You” and “Don’t Look Back” are all guaranteed barn-burners which show off Sultan’s songwriting fleshed out into a full band. But then there are the songs like “Icicles” and “I Am the End,” which are stripped down and chug along, albeit at a snail’s pace. The intro for “I Am the End” goes as far as just using Sultan’s voice, tons of reverb, a tambourine, and ambient noise—yet Sultan doesn’t lose any of his soul despite it. It’s kind of weird to think of, since this album is coming from a guy who has built up his name from a plethora of lo-fi seven-inches, but this is a fully-conscious studio album. Some songs have weird, scratchy noise on them and some others are totally radio friendly. I’d highly doubt seeing Mark Sultan play under his own name and touring these songs, or even playing stripped-down versions of these as BBQ—but then again, that’s why he made an album. (Last Gang, www.lastgangentertainment.com) Taylor Burgess