Not too long ago, Americans mainly associated Canadian music with earnest, tacky pop stars such as Celine Dion, Bryan Adams and Rush. However, since the beginning of this decade Canada has spawned a seemingly endless supply of major indie rock acts including the Arcade Fire, the New Pornographers, Feist, Broken Social Scene and Wolf Parade. Each of the artists in this week's column hail from different ends of the geographically vast nation, but represent the next wave of the ongoing Canadian Invasion.
1
"Alone/Alive"
Shapes and Sizes (Asthmatic Kitty)
Shapes and Sizes' Caila Thompson-Hannant's songs somehow manage to condense the scope of epic adventures into compositions that rarely crack the five minute mark. Her voice is gorgeous and wild as she rapidly cycles through moments of excitement, danger, despair and romance without ever seeming disjointed or overbearing. "Alone/Alive," the opening track from her band's latest release "Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner," builds on the strength of their 2006 debut while pushing them off into increasingly experimental territory. Though the song overflows with melody and appealing rock 'n' roll dynamics, it also repeatedly collapses into moments of quiet chaos. It all ends on an extended atonal tangent.
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"Balloon Factory"
Dandi Wind (Todtenschlaf)
Montreal's Dandi Wind is a warped, aggressive performance artist whose music sits in a sweet spot between harsh industrial electronica, punk and anxious dance music. "Balloon Factory" alternates between richly detailed lyrics about a person discovering an image of the Virgin Mary on a deflated balloon and a goofy, nonsensical chorus that recalls the ironic bubblegum chorus of Le Tigre's classic single "Deceptacon." Wind delivers both ends of the song with an appealingly bratty tone that conveys the dark humor of the lyrics as well as a panicked urgency.
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"End of the World"
Dog Day (Tomlab)
The Halifax-based quartet Dog Day specialize in blending the co-ed vocal dynamics of early '90s indie pop with the dark romanticism of late '80s New Wave. The resulting sound will no doubt leave older fans reaching for comparisons to a thousand obscure, long-defunct bands. Dog Day may not be going for innovation, but their craft is impressive, yielding catchy tunes such as "End of the World" that sound as though they could have been enormous indie hits back in the glory days of MTV's 120 Minutes.
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