The Almighty Defenders (BUY)

01 All My Loving
02 The Ghost With the Most
03 Bow Down and Die
04 Cone of Light
05 Jihad Blues
06 30 Second Air Blast
07 Death Cult Soup n’ Salad
08 I’m Coming Home
09 Over the Horizon
10 She Came Before Me
11 The Great Defender

When the Black Lips packed up their shit and high tailed out of India last year they stopped into Moon Studios in Berlin where King Khan and Mark Sultan (aka BBQ Show) were working on “Invisible Girl”. Then a miracle happened. The unmaculate conception of The Almighty Defenders. If god could create the world in 7 days, what could the Defenders do?



A “gospel” record for people who don’t listen to gospel records is how one could briefly describe this record, all the style without all the bullshit. The albums begins with All My Loving, a thigh slapping groove that could take you back to any southern church USA, raising and lowering your hands while screaming with Khan to the high heavens. Ghost With The Most, sets us down with a compelling tale of one “finding the sea of happiness”. The Black Lips’ presence is clearly heard in Bow Down Die, a fist pumping garage anthem with just enough heel-tap swaying to keep you in the heavenly theme of the record. Cone of Light, showcases Mark Sultan perfectly. A voice like his and a song like this would have you drinking the Kool-Aid in no time. But with the light comes the darkness. Jihad Blues, a dark, suicidal song (think Cobain meets Brown, James Brown) sets us up for the half time nonsense of 30 Second Air Blast and Death Cult Soup n’ Salad. The album picks itself up during I’m Coming Home, an homage to Mighty Hannibal. The crowning masterpiece, the song that ties this album all together is The Great Defender. More of a sermon than a song. We must repent ours ways, “in a world of Segways and wraparounds, some would say that all hope is lost. When Ipod DJ’s get 3 x the money of most rockn’roll bands, you could say if there is a hell below - we’re all gonna go. Alas! SALVATION IS FINALLY HERE!” Hallelujah!



The garage fused gospel album works, musically through the Lips and vocally though Khan and Sultan. Not without filler but stand out tracks like Cone of Light, Bow Down and Die and I’m Coming Home overshadow them rendering them all but passing noise.

TRENDSCORE: 70%

Listen:
The Almighty Defenders - Cone Of Light

The Almighty Defenders - Bow Down and Die

So Trendwhore co-produced its first show with Mondays To The Max.  Those of you who were ambitious enough to make it out to the Green Room on a holiday Monday got a chance to see a packed set of four blog-worthy acts.  Let’s break the night down in order of appearance.

Ghetto Pony

This local threesome’s disjointed crunky funk involved the audience listening to vocalist Peter Jarecki stretch his voice past its limits.  It was entertaining and beat driven. With a debut album name like “Post Apocalyptic Bubblegum Music”, these guys are aiming high to the sky of obscurity, and hitting right at the heart of the hippest flannel-clad hipster around.  Help yourself to the slew of reviews already available on CD Baby.  If you scroll all the way down and read the last review, all your worries will disappear.   The following lyrics on Ghetto Pony’s song “Kaboom” offer an intriguing observation:”Witches don’t wear underwear, so they can have grip on their brooms.”

Rah Rah

This five piece from Regina, SK absolutely killed it.  The aroma of lovely field flowers filled the room as they took the stage - it was truly a breath of fresh air.  The crowd woke up, clapped along, danced around, and was duly impressed.  Rah Rah’s high energy numbers like “Betrayal”, “Fuck Nafta”, and “Tentacles” sounded polished and propelled forward with confidence and mastery.  Be sure to check out Rah Rah when they pass through the city once again on June 4th and take the stage at Il Motore with Parlovr and The Lovely Feathers.  It will be good.

Nut Brown

Now, when it comes to Nut Brown, some confusion lingered in the air.  Was his dance number choreographed?  Was there intention behind the seemingly farcical performance?  The visual aspect of the set was ambiguous, but Nut went all out and poured his heart into every jiving limb he had.  (I counted four.)  The juxtaposition of the booming dance hop with delicate love-themed lyrics was absorbing to say the least.  Really, listen carefully to the lyrics - the way they are filled with tender devotion for his loved one is endearing.    Go Nut!

Didn’t stick around for Superfossilpower.

And in other news… Michael Gira (SWANS, Angels of Light, Young God) is coming to Suoni Per Il Popolo, which starts June 3rd.  Check the festival schedule here.

EDITORS NOTE: You may have noticed some site outages over the past few days. I’m doing some nerd shit and moving the site from one webserver to another, a trivial task…… bear with me.

Saturday night locals Black Feelings and Dead Wives with Brooklyn’s Japanther and Ninjasonik tore La Sala Rossa apart.Well I actually didn’t see Dead Wives set since I opted to watch Montreal humble Toronto, but I’ll assume the best. Black Feelings has one of the most energetic bass players I have been. Their sound is thick, dark and worth a listen. Ninjasonik took to the stage pumping The Hold Steady’s Stay Positive. DJ Teen Wolf and Telli Fenderline then proceeded to slay the Montreal crowd, igniting shirtless bros crowd surfing while dancing girlies flooded the stage. Take any chance you can get to see Ninjasonik, tour dates are at their myspace. Finally Japanther took to the stage taking the sweaty crowd to another level. No dancing girls on stage, they followed the bros and started topless stage diving. Their set was short but ferocious, we need more shows like this in Montreal.

For Ears:

Ninjasonik - Art School Girls (Remix)


Ninjasonik - Daylight (Matt & Kim Remix)


Japanther - Um Like Yer Smile Is Totally Ruling Me Right Now

For Eyes:

Ninjasonik - Art School Girls

Japanther - One Hundered Dollars

Japanther - Challenge

Japanther - Cable Babies

Brooklyn’s Crystal Stilts opened for punk pop Swedish quartet Love Is All on Wed, Dec 10th at La Sala Rossa.  Performing songs both from their EP and full-length Alight of Night, two things were confirmed during the show: 1) the Crystal Stilts have a penchant for writing eerie, addictive pop songs, and 2) the lyrics are definitely unintelligible.Without any contrived effort, these guys manage to put on a sweet show.  Onstage, the band members (vocalist Brad Hargett, drummer Frankie Rose, guitarists JB Townshend and Andy Adler)  are seemingly blaze and indifferent, yet the music speaks for itself, transporting you to the best of sixties rock, but with an indescribable quality that’s novel and ingenious.  In fact, vocalist Brad Hargett’s weary detachment complements the sound perfectly.  The mood wouldn’t be the same without it.  Exuberant, chipper vocals would be completely out of place in this haunting, magnetic acoustic space.

Eerie and charismatic, Crystal Stilts create compelling, potent songs.  A couple people from the crowd noted that the show lacked entertainment value.  As always, over-the-top histrionics are required by some to call it an enjoyable show.  Well, you won’t find that at a Crystal Stilts performance, but you will walk away having discovered a collection of songs you can have on repeat for days on end.  We chatted with Crystal Stilts after the show.  Here is what ensued:

Trendwhore: What toys are on your wish list this year?
Brad Hargett: A TV, a desk, a bed. I have none of those things.  A house.
JB Townshend: Optimus Prime.
Andy Adler: A set of golf clubs.

Trendwhore: What’s the most challenging thing about DIY culture?
BH: The hardest thing about the DIY venues is not being able to smoke outside.  You gotta pretty much take a train to smoke a cigarette and then take a train back to the venue.

 Trendwhore: Are you sick of people talking about your unintelligible lyrics?
 BH: No, I don’t care. That’s how I want it to sound.  I don’t want to be an acoustic singer/songwriter that’s focussing on the words. I mean, lyrics are important for me when I write them, but I like the way they sound.

Trendwhore: If you were a secret agent, what would your mission be?
BH: To kill important people.
AA: It would be like [the movie] “Top Secret” with Val Kilmer.
JBT: To go to Cuba in 1962, kick ass, and take a lot of names, including Fidel Castro.

From the looks of it, the crowd completely cleaned up the Crystal Stilts merch table,  After their Dec 17 show in New York with Vetiver, these guys will be touring Europe through February and March.

You can purchase their album Alight of Night here.

Setlist:

1. City n’the Sea
2. Thru the Floor
3. Untitled New Song
4. Shattered Shine
5. Crippled Croon
6. Sycamore Seeds
7. Until My Friends Are Free
8. Love Is A Wave

Notorious for his unique remixes, which incorporate samples from a variety of recording artists, Greg Gillis of Girl Talk has come a long way from his beginnings as a Pittsburgh party DJ.  In only a few short years, his name has become synonymous with high-energy, infectious tracks and even crazier, sweaty live shows where Gillis and his wild MacBook rip it up, freak-out, and rock out with the crowd.  Having overheard mentions of Girl Talk’s upcoming show on metro rides and bus cues days before his Thursday night performance, it was clear that many of us in Montreal were pumped to be in attendance at one of his notoriously crazy shows.  Our photographer Erik Naumann reports:

 EDITORS NOTE:

Photos and words care of Erik Naumann [http://pandastrong.com/]   

I got there early to find a good spot to take photos from. After a beer and a gin+tonic (GT… Girl Talk?), the openers, CX KiDTRONiK/Krak Attack came on stage: two old, obnoxious guys pretending they’re from New York, playing obnoxious mash-up/hip hop with a video backdrop of photos of girls’ ass cracks. I established a good relationship with the bartender by drinking steadily through this set, but towards the end they brought a group of young, drunk girls on stage and started grinding them. I told my bartender “I’m not drunk enough for this”, and he provided another strong gin+tonic to help me along. Bless him.

 I was still in a state of shock from Krak Attack’s assault, and The Death Set wasn’t able to revive me. They riff overtop of other songs in a kind of generic way. It wasn’t terrible, like Krak Attack, but the bar had been set pretty low. After a few more drinks and meeting up with some friends, Girl Talk started setting up on stage.

 
Bathroom Break… yikes!

Gregg Gillis stood on a table, said some stuff into a mic, and threw confetti into the air. Then they let a bunch of people on stage with him and the place exploded into instant pandemonium. For a guy who DJs from a laptop, Girl Talk has the most amazing sense of presentation and stage presence. The show is energetic and wild and he’s right in the middle of it with you. The crowd was a tightly packed, swarming mess of bodies and the air was full of coloured confetti, beach balls and flying toilet paper. I didn’t get a photo pass but it was pretty easy to walk into the VIP section to get some photos. It’s already a pretty incredible show and then you look over at the balcony and see this guy with a balloon head. Who the fuck is that guy?

I checked my camera at the coat check and dove into the crowd with my roommate and actually managed to find friends of mine up towards the front. We danced and got shoved around with the flow of the crowd and had an amazing time. The thoughtful way different threads of pop are interleaved together is difficult to truly appreciate but easy to enjoy. Girl Talk seems to end every show by stripping down to his boxers, demonstrating the complete craziness that every party should end up being.

Barely alive after a week of exhaustion from Pop Montreal madness, I have finally recovered enough to gather my thoughts and tell you about The Dodos show at La Sala Rossa on Sat, Oct 4th. I didn’t make it in time to see openers Passion Pit, but took a listen to their myspace - it’s hooky, synth heavy dance-pop, with high-pitched vocals. Explosive, like a helium balloon.

Next came Portland based experimental folk duo Au. Fingers scurrying across the keyboard, spacey drawn out vocals, and powerful drums combine classical influences with contemporary Americana, and garner comparisons to Steve Reich, Brian Eno, and Animal Collective. Au alternates between serene atmospherics and lively, spirited numbers. Originally began as a solo project by multi-instrumentalist Luke Wyland, the current touring band also includes insanely skilled drummer Dana Valatka, whose improvised solo at the end of their set at La Sala Rossa floored people’s jaws into the ground. During past shows, Au have been known to perform with more than a dozen musicians on stage with banjos, accordions, and other toys and tricks. They are now touring in support of Verbs, their latest release on Aagoo Records. Their music is expansively orchestrated, skillfully improvised, and oh-so playful!

The Dodos catapulted onto the stage with their frenetic folksy blues and played a propulsive set despite lead vocalist Meric Long being a little under the weather. Percussion is central to The Dodos’ sound and (drummer) Logan Kroeber beat those big, heavy drums with primal urgency - that tribal, drum-circle quality coupled with Meric Long’s effortless fingerpicking resonated well with the audience. Those who heard their music for the first time were immediately hooked. (I didn’t take a poll of the audience - I’m basing this on a statistically significant sample of four people.) More seasoned listeners recognized “Fools”, “Jodi”, “The Season” - smart, witty lyrics soaring above hurried acoustic guitar, booming drums, and chiming vibraphone and creating infectious, unforgettable songs.

Joe Haener (of gris gris) added to the intensity by rhythmically kicking the shit out of a shiny silver garbage can. After the band got off the stage, the crowd stomped and clapped in unison - demanding an encore! Everyone had their primordial guts shaken to the core by this hugely energetic, unrestrained live set. Although comparisons to Animal Collective (I dare you to name one folk-rock indie band that hasn’t been compared to them), Elliott Smith, and even Sonic Youth have been thrown around, The Dodos’ music doesn’t get jumbled with thousands of other bands you’ve got stored in your memory. When you hear the first notes of their songs, you know exactly who you’re listening to. Their 2008 album Visiter was released on Frenchkiss Records this past March and has thrown them into a whirlwind. They’ve toured relentlessly throughout the US, Canada, and Europe, and have dates lined up in Australia all the way through January.

These dudes are seriously badass. Having played at Le Divan Orange this past April, and at La Sala Rossa last week, I think it’s only natural that their next show in Montreal should be held at a venue aptly named for another colorful piece of furniture. Feel free to volunteer suggestions.

The Dodos - Fools

The Dodos - Trades & Tariffs

The Dodos - Jodi

Akron/Family absolutely killed it at La Sala Rossa tonight.  The show ended a few hours ago and I’m at home, ready to gush about it to those of you who weren’t there.  It was one intense experience.  I first saw Akron/Family perform this July at Castle Clinton in New York, so having seen them live before, I was considering checking out other bands from the Pop Montreal line up.  I thought it would be good to expand my musical horizons and listen to something new, but remembering how their show rendered me speechless, I instead opted to skip Shugo Tokumaru, and Ratatat (yes, you heard me) to be shaken to the core once again by Akron/Family’s unhinged musical freeform.

Miles Seaton (vocals/guitar/drums), Seth Olinsky (vocals/guitar), and Dana Janssen (drums/vocals) alternated between calmer meditative numbers and feverish improvisations to create a powerful, entrancing performance.  There was a quality of timelessness throughout the show - instead of breaking between songs to announce  song titles, Akron/Family maintained a steady flow of sound that gradually crescendoed to an invigorating climax. During the psych-rock numbers Seaton’s deafening screams and unguarded hollers were cathartic even for the audience. (I wish I could shout everything that’s pent up into a microphone!)  This contrasted completely with the gentler songs that were lushly sung with three part harmonies.  The vocals were tender and poignant, and the lyrics revealed a little secret - the universe whispered into Akron/Family’s ear and asked them to tell you that everything will be ok.   It’s no wonder that their 2007 album is called ’Love Is Simple’.

These guys are completely at ease on stage - letting the music flow through their fingers and sharing their love with the people.  They are known for incorporating the audience into the show with sing alongs and clap alongs, and tonight - Seaton took a drum from the stage and placed it on the floor to be pounded upon by exhilarated fans.   This was a display of superb musicianship.  The intensely wild energy on the stage flowed throughout the venue, moving hips from side to side, unleashing our primal urges and compelling us to feel harmony with our shared tribal roots.

Noticing how much the crowd was into it, Seaton remarked that he loves our city and that Montrealers are badass.  “I feel like I can be myself in Montreal, “  he laughingly admitted.  Don’t we all, Miles, don’t we all.   He then commanded the audience to sing the words ‘just be yourself’, ‘just be your beautiful f-cking self’.

Akron/Family truly embody what it means to put on a kickass live show.  In fact, these guys are nothing short of inspired.

Saturday night at Bistro de Paris, Lady Mustache played a folksy-blues inspired set for a few dozen eager supporters. This hard working local band formed several months ago, the six members having worked zealously to create joyful songs that arouse the desire to dance and drink whiskey gypsy-style. (Do gypsies drink whiskey? Who knows.)

Singing about bikini-clad devils and drunken binges, Lady Mustache combined guitar, drums, vocals, and keyboards into fast paced cheerful songs that proved their ability as a mighty fine performing band. Friendly loads of camaraderie, (as well as copious amounts of alcohol) allow these four blokes and two lassies to create music that entertains and conjures up visions of sizzling summer days spent in Tijuana.

Singing about the good simplicities of life, Lady Mustache performed an energetic set, complete with shimmying back up vocalists, hints of accordion (on keyboards), and roaring vocals. Describing their sound as “polka-punk-rock”, Lady Mustache not only showcase their ingenuity, but also the very real possibility that a hybrid of those three genres can be a healthy babe, and not a deviant mutant of sorts.

Feeding off each other for creative energy, Lady Mustache focuses on the good things in life, divulging that: “That’s really what our music is all about anyways - a happy world.” To the question of whether getting gigs in this music hot-bed of a city is challenging, drummer Kas “Beachbod” points out that “Getting booked in Montreal is not hard. Getting money for shows is another story, however.”

Trendwhore caught up with Lady Mustache before the show to take photos (which prove that women are the ultimate peak on man’s evolutionary scale). If you’re in the mood for hearty har-har entertainment by a fine Montreal outfit, check out their next show at Bar St-Laurent 2 on September 1st.

Photos by: Erik Naumann

www.pandastrong.com

When a contributor for an popular online music magazine recently reviewed the new album Viva La Vida from Coldplay, they doused the sensitive Brits with such descriptives as “wuss messiahs” and referenced some obscure poll taken by Travelodge in which Coldplay won the “The Band Most Likely To Put You To Sleep” award. While I’m sure Chris Martin isn’t crying into his 1000-pound-note-stuffed pillow over it (actually, I’m not so sure….), these uninsightful observations are typical of the criticisms slung at the band. Now, every band deserves a little criticism - that’s why they call them “critical reviews” after all - but referencing a Travelodge poll? Come on, popular music magazine contributor, you and I both know this isn’t an accurate source of popular opinion - the average hotel guest is just going to pick the most popular band on the list. And after all, would you poll a frat house and expect Fleet Foxes to win over Disturbed? I think not. Pitchfork, as an unashamed and admittedly biased Coldplay fan, I abhor you at the moment… but that’s beside the point. Taking potshots at an easy target should be beneath such a respected musical weathervane as you.

The fact is, Coldplay have done everything right in their careers so far, from graduating to shimmering stadium-shaking songwriting on their second album, to adopting a unique performance style. While not everyone may appreciated the way Chris Martin prances and hops around onstage, you can’t deny that it is entertaining and uniquely ‘Coldplay’. And, lets be fair, not many bands can shower sentimental enthusiasm over an audience of 40,000 with such pounding zeal as these guys. They deserve credit where they’ve earned it, and if you don’t like sentimentally enthusiastic music, put on your new Disturbed album (oooh-ah-ah-ah-ah!).

Viva La Vida sees Coldplay fearlessly departing from the familiar soaring piano anthems that have marked their previous successes. Despite the bands’ famous humility and self-deprecation, and Chris Martins’ well-publicized apparent lack of musical self-esteem, their new album displays a confidence in their ability to create ass-kicking music on their own terms. With such a hot spotlight aimed at this band, combined with their modest honesty and openness, it’s easy to pick apart their intentions and methods used in creating this album. One attention-grabbing musician, capitalizing on Martins’ statements that he steals little bits of other bands’ music, even claims the band stole one of his melodies. First of all, every songwriter steals a little bit (they’re called influences), and secondly, attention-grabber, Chris Martin doesn’t need to steal from you. Read on after the break…. Continue Reading »

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was formed in 1874, and today has 42,101 sworn members, 26 boats, 14 helicopters, 951 bikes, 1,103 cars, 33 dogs, and 16 horses. They recently launched a new campaign to urge elderly drivers to give up their licenses after the accident rate involving drivers over 70 years of age skyrocketed in Tokyo by 35% while overall accident rates fell. Um….. wait….. I’m totally reviewing the wrong organization. They’re a great police department though, really, I researched them…. very thorough and ethical. More horses would be cool, though.

The subject of this review is actually supposed to be Tokyo Police Club, a band that was formed just outside of Toronto in 2005. They don’t have any horses at all, but they do have a tour bus that’s been getting a lot of use since they graduated high-school. It all started when they were invited to play at the Pop Montreal music festival. Since then, they’ve gone on to play practically every major rock music festival, from Coachella to Lolapalooza to Reading to Glastonbury, and sold out shows across the continent and Europe. Their first EP, 2006’s A Lesson In Crime, sold 30,000 copies, enough to draw the attention and acclaim of Rolling Stone, Blender, Entertainment Weekly, and more even though it was only 16 minutes long. They signed to Paper Bag Records and, while collecting fans by the Myspace-friends-page-load with their frenetic live shows and stirring up the media world with buzz, they recorded their first full album, Elephant Shell. The expectations were high when the record label announced the albums’ release date of March 25th. So much so that it was leaked early, and all of the fans had heard the album by the time it was for sale. Read on after the gap………… Continue Reading »

The Raconteurs weren’t a ‘real’ band in the sense that, say, Radiohead or Beck are ‘real’ bands. The members were all established veterans in the music world and enjoyed successful careers – to relative extents – outside of the group before The Raconteurs idea was even dreamed up. In other words, they were all well past that urgent ‘do-or-die’ part of their own careers. They became the accidental supergroup that was borne out of friendship and mutual respect for superb musicianship. Even with all the supergroups around nowadays, I just don’t think Jack White could be associated with the term ‘trend-follower’ (or trendwhore, like us….). They didn’t set out to make the next big thing, tacky reality tv show and all, they just wanted to experiment with music and have fun being awesome. The result was a confident debut that had absolutely nothing to prove to anyone but ended up putting the band on the map with its meld of, as they called it, “shimmering pop melodies and firecracker blues.” This was a debut from a band that didn’t care if you liked them or not, but knew you would anyways.

So what would you expect from a group that, after such a massive and hugely successful breakout album and tour, comes back brimming with energy and ideas and confidence and enthusiam to record a follow-up? Something even better than the first, probably. The reaction to Broken Boy Soldiers was probably a bit a surprise to the band, a lucky fluke even, but this time around their aim is to keep the buzz going. The Raconteurs are sitting right at the very top of their game right now, and it’s no surprise that they were so impatient in getting their second album, Consolers of the Lonely, into our ears without delay. The Raconteurs don’t just sound like Jack White and Brendan Benson playing together anymore. They sound like The Raconteurs, and they’re excited about it. Read on after the jump….

Continue Reading »

The Dodos are a San Fransisco guitar-drum duo who are nothing like The White Stripes. In fact, The Dodos should never even be mentioned in the same sentence as The White Stripes, because The Dodos don’t even sound - or look - similar to The White Stripes. But if there is anything that we’ve learned in the past from listening to these kinds of bands that we love, it’s that in order to be a good guitar-drum duo you need to have excessive amounts of energy, musical passion, and showmanship. You have to have at least enough to make up for those “missing” members, if not more. So then it’s particularly important to mention that The Dodos generate enough energy in their live shows to power all the homes, heated pools, and air conditioners in all of California, and they’ve got musical passion and showmanship to spare. When they hit the studio earlier this year to record their latest album, Visiter, their goal was to bottle all that live-show intensity and distill it into a potent spirit for your eardrums. Some might say you can’t bottle that kind of thing, but I would say that just trying to do it makes for a pretty interesting album. More after the jump….

Continue Reading »

OK, I admit, it’s been a while since I listened to a record start-to-finish. I’m guilty of plucking songs from good albums for my Top 100 playlist – we’ve all done it. But the latest effort from Tapes n’ Tapes gives as good an excuse as any to kick the habit. The Minneapolis band trod a path well worn with their sophomore effort Walk It Off, giving us Neoclassic Rock/Psychedelia that we’ve heard on many an indie album lately. It’s that thoughtful low-fi sound that goes way (way, way) back to the early 90’s with Pavement or The Pixies, who they’re often compared to. But Tapes n’ Tapes do it as good as any, and if they’re not groundbreaking, they are fresh and full of ideas - they carry the tradition well.

On their first album they became known for the variety of styles they use in their music. That fearless experimental spirit shows itself throughout Walk It Off. Every song is confidently different in style from the next, and they’re not afraid to take big turns mid-song. Yet good songwriting, melody, and a pleasant soundscape always take precedence. The album blasts in with the chunky “Le Ruse” which, like the name, aims straight for the hipster trendy crowd. The first single from the album, the tense and repetitive “Hang Them All”, keeps you waiting for the gratifying payoff till the very end with hard, fast drums and a thwangy funk riff. The band shows its more thoughtful side on “Time Of Songs”, a mumbly, meandering sonic journey. There isn’t a bad track on this record, but they keep one of the best for last. The album closes urgently with the dark, messy “The Dirty Dirty”, singer Josh Grier growling “where did all the money go?”. Well…. it went to an expensive recording studio and a flashy producer, obviously. This time around with a big budget they recruited a producer known for his work with The Flaming Lips and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. But with another string of club dates through North America and Europe and some high-profile TV gigs, they’re sure to make it all that big money back.

Walk It Off is a confident album from a band that’s coming around full-tilt into round two. For a group that doesn’t take itself too seriously (each of their members is named after a word in the band name, but since there are four members and only two words, they share….), they deliver a serious record well worth the hundred megabytes or so of space on your iPod. It’s notable to mention that Tapes ‘n Tapes were one of the first so-called “blog bands”, given a hand up to fame by the likes of yours truly. Needless to say, they’ve got a ride on the hype wagon, and they’re paying their fare with this latest effort. You can go see for yourself on April 15th at Cabaret Juste Pour Rire. Get tickets here.