Safe Journey On River Seven

With model good looks and middle of the road songs, River Seven has established itself as one of Ontario's leading musical exports. Their self-titled album is a pop-rock record that quite snugly fits in the adult alternative category and makes itself comfortable there. With a jam band mentality, a jazzy vibe, and a little bit of pop River Seven creates music for the older adult.

River Seven sounds as if it could have been recorded by someone such as John Mayer or even Maroon 5. Its pop produced so close to perfection it's almost blinding. Radio ready with gargantuan hooks, and melodies pleasant enough for anyone to like River Seven is the sort of record that would please a mainstream audience that is looking for something with a little bit of an edge but not to outlandish. Truth be told, it's not bad for what it is. It's safe, unadventurous, and ridiculously tuneful...unfortunately it's not really my thing.

River Seven are undoubtedly great musicians but their songs are just so safe and so dull to my ears that I can't listen to it. This is music for people who like BMW's, who wear Tommy Bahama, who wear boat shoes and think they're cool...it's yuppie rock and I'm not old enough (or rich enough) to be part of the crowd. Sorry guys, but despite all the talent in the world it’s just not enough to hold my attention.

Welcome To The House Of Blondes

Someone has apparently forgotten to tell House of Blondes that we are in the year 2012. This group of New Yorkers has apparently missed the passage of time and continues to reside in 1981. Lost in a sea of early OMD and New Order records the band sound as if they've not bought a single piece of equipment in thirty years and sincerely enjoy creating atmospheric washes of synthetic color over each and every song they write.

Their album Clean Cuts is a masterwork in pop minimalism that sounds like the best team up between Brian Eno and OMD that never happened. With lush analog-sounding synths washing over minimalistic beats and detached vocals the whole thing sounds like it was recorded in an underground tunnel and feels about as cold as that too. That, my friends, is what makes this record so cool...it's detached and cool demeanor that seems like it's looking off in another direction.

Cooly wandering the post-apocalyptic soundscape as if it just didn't care, House of Blondes proudly resides in its own introspective world. The lush imaginative songs truly belong in a post industrial environment of their own and if you can manage to get to that location you're rewarded with a form of post-modernism that's sleek, clean, and very cool. Clean Cuts is a work of retro futurism that pays tribute to its influences in fine style and had it been released thirty years ago it would have been declared a work of genius. It's that good, that abstract, and that essential.

Crushed Stars Are In The Bright Rain

It's a good thing that as I write this review of Crushed Stars I'm fully awake because if I wasn't I'd swear that it was a continuation of a dream. Their album In The Bright Rain is a mystical ethereal album that lingers somewhere around old Felt records, Mojave 3 outtakes, and an Ambien fueled vacation. This is the sound of the subconscious come to life and it's a rather nice listen.

With a minimalist approach and barely there guitars, vocals, drums, and just about everything else Crushed Stars' songs are as wispy and delicate. This is a lazy and lackadaisical record that's the aural equivalent of a lazy river trip into to slumberland. It's beautiful stuff that is atmospheric, hushed, and almost too shy to be heard but that's what makes it work. Put it this way, if In The Bright Rain was any louder it would lose its innocence and it's tenderness and quite frankly wouldn't sound right.

Crushed Stars are as fragile as a butterfly and as good as Felt at their best. The gentle strums, the strung out vocals, the ambient textures it all comes together to lull you into a warm place where dreams run free and your heart breaks ever so gently. In The Bright Rain is a great quiet pop masterpiece and one of the most achingly beautiful things we've heard in a while.

The Balconies Keep A Kill Count

The Balconies are easily one of Canada's best kept secrets. How they've not crossed the border and not made themselves at home in the US blogosphere is beyond me. For no other band around right now fuses post-grunge, rock and roll, indie pop and that Canadian sense of songwriting like these guys. Their latest record Kill Count is a stunning slice of indie rock that's a rollercoaster of musical fun.

Combining distortion, jangly guitars, grrrl-ish vocals, and a strong sense of what makes a pop song pop The Balconies tap into their inner 90's child and create songs that rock hard, jangle freely, and latch on to anything that moves around them. The group is so in touch with that era of music that had Kill Count been released in 1993 they would have been on Sub Pop and sold a bajillion records. This record reminds me of old Throwing Muses stuff smashed together with Babes in Toyland and then given just enough polish to appeal to everyone. This record rocks and rocks hard. Riffs churn, drums bash, and vocals swirl in a frenzy of noisy pop and post grunge goodness.

When you come from Canada the phrase Power Trio is part of your DNA and The Balconies prove that. For just three members The Balconies kick some serious bootay and you can hear it come through on just about every song on Kill Count. From the jumpy and jittery, title track to the more jangly moments on, "Black Cat," the Balconies clearly know how to write a killer hook and aren't afraid to throw them out there. Kill Count is a great record that takes the best of the 90's and kicks it back to today.

Red Shoe Diaries...No Not That One

Ok, I admit it...when I saw the name Red Shoe Diaries, I went there. I went back to the show that was "hosted," by David Ducovny years ago that let’s just say would find a home on Cinemax. This is an unusual name for an indie pop band but it works. It gives this twee combo a sense of danger and when you're playing jangly pop you can use all the danger you can get your hands on.

Red Shoe Diaries EP Ice and Snow is a soaring strummy indie pop record that features boy/girl vocals, wonderful melodies and, despite the torrid imagery of their name, a sunshiny vibe that's perfect for spring. R rated content this is not, but it is awesome stuff that is light, airy, and just wispy enough to put a smile on your face. The songs sound as if the band ran into the studio after frolicking in a field of heather and felt so inspired that songs just came gushing out of them. Ice and Snow is wonderful stuff that brings back memories of classic Sarah Records, NME's c86, and reading Melody Maker.

Sounding like a more bang up to date version of The Sundays crossed with enough Camera Obscura to make them look over their shoulder Red Shoe Diaries are a fantastic band and quite possibly the best thing to come out of Nottingham since Robin Hood. Ice and Snow is a tender hearted moment of indie pop that strums itself into your soul and never leaves...and that's a good thing.

Standing Shadows Are Everlasting

Remember good old fashioned Alt-rock? You know...kind of heavy, slightly metallic sounding rock and roll that was just different enough not to fall into metal but a bit too heavy to fall into alternative? Well somewhere smack dab in the middle of that quandary is where Standing Shadows reside. Their album The Silent Revolution is like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup...it got its metal in my indie rock and the results are tasty.

With loads of guitar bombast, dark matter, odd time signatures, swirling melodies, and a whole host of other things that shouldn't really mix together The Silent Revolution is a fantastic mix of darkness and light that shouldn't work but really does. Standing Shadows excel at creating songs that are just heavy enough to rock the heck out of you but just off kilter enough to keep things interesting. This is the way rock and roll should be; loud, primal, and out of the ordinary. The Silent Revolution is packed to the gills with lackadaisical vocals, atmospheric guitars, and hazy hooks and it all envelopes you in a blanket of sound that you'll want cover up with. If you can imagine Muse if they were slightly more depressed than out there you kind of have an idea of where Standing Shadows are coming from.

The Silent Revolution is a chunky but diverse record that takes the best of both worlds and mixes them together with great results. This is the way moodiness should sound and feel; loud and choppy but ultimately easy to latch on to. Standing Shadows are a great band that has perfected this blend and come up with something that's like the best bad day you've ever had. With a set this strong it's easy to see why Standing Shadows Are Everlasting.

Lux Confess We Are Not The Same

Seattle based Lux are a dynamic duo who have never played live and aren't sure if they ever want to. They met and became a band after answering a Craigslist ad. They were receiving offers for tours before even having a record. They are self confessed control freaks. They much prefer the confined spaces of a recording studio to the chaos filled stage. Lux are a fascinating band.

We Are Not The Same is all about a bit of distortion and lo-fi production. Think something similar to early Raveonettes recordings with a bit of stark synth pop that might remind you of someone like Fischerspooner meeting the Magnetic Fields. It’s a bit of an unusual sound that allows the band to have a style that's clearly all their own.

We Are Not The Same is raw, melodic, and filled with a sense of ethereal wonder. Lux have created something that's easy to fall in love with and something to listen to on repeat for a while and this album truly proves that Lux isn’t the same as everyone else. Unique and wondrous, We Are Not The Same is post shoegazing that’s worth its weight in ethereal gold.