Departing
I honestly cannot stop listening to this
album. That doesn’t happen often for me. Less outgoing than
their last album, this one is a more spare, wintery affair with
the same awesome up front production that manages to feature
Jeff Mangum-like vocals, absolutely ridiculous drumming (though
not quite as stunning as on Hometowns) and some very
nice female harmonies in a consistently compelling package.
I think that’s the key here: consistency. The whole album follows
the cold, winter love theme excellently, flows perfectly from
indie folk ‘n’ roll song to song and keeps the high level of
quality throughout. At ten tracks, it’s a little short, but
there isn’t a dud on the whole album, with each song soaring
with energy but keeping the emotion contained within tight,
driving packages. There isn’t a spare moment wasted, as they
churn through the full album of toe tapping music that still
grabs you by your frozen heart and warms it like a drive on
a frozen road in the middle of North Dakota (or their homeland of Canada) by the glow of the
FM dial. This is easily in my
top ten for 2011, and is a perfect album to help wrap up this
miserable winter. |
Hometowns
Think
of these guys with the weird Canadian name as a Neutral
Milk Hotel laid bare. Strip away the singing saw, the oddball
antique instruments and, well, some of the pretension, and you're
left with a passionate album of well crafted songs full of multi-instrumentation,
a distinct, raw-throated singer and an underlying love of pop
melodies. The comparison really isn't fair, as RAA are more
understated and less carnival-like, even doing a stripped down
boy/girl harmony with violin and a really cool, spare drum beat
on “Don't Haunt This Place,” although they owe their spirit
to the same post-punk spirit as fellow Canucks Arcade
Fire and even those wacky Ra Ra
Riot kids with a dash of deadboy
& the Elephantmen. All miss-firing comparisons aside, I
really like this album, and look forward to their future output--as
well as their actual signing to a decent indie label. Good stuff. |
|
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