Plumtree- Your Mouth Shoots Off

Like I’m sure I said the first time I mentioned Plumtree on here, it probably wouldn’t be the only time they would pop up. Predicts The Future is one of my favourite albums, probably ever. I’m slightly disappointed that the only version of this song I can find online doesn’t even have their name in the video title, BUT Scott Pilgrim VS The World introduced a lot more people to Plumtree than anyone could have expected. Also, I totally love this movie.

Anyway, this is the last song on PTF and is probably… the least Plumtree sounding? There’s certainly a Pixies/Frank Black thing going with the chorus (wait for it). It’s definitely a sea change and certainly a hint at what the band would grow towards on their latter material.

All The Trendy Kids- La La La

Pop punk from London, Ontario. Okay, to be fair, this band isn’t technically female fronted as April shared vocal duties with the boys most of the time. All The Trendy Kids was originally a side project to another band called The Stiff Wires (featuring many of the same members), but after they broke up they naturally made this a full time thing. I think the strangest best review I’ve read of anyone, ever, was someone noting April’s inclusion as “adding a pair of boobs into a can of dicks” in that she totally changed the “flavour of the can”… erm, band. This song in particular is her singing alone and is easily the standout track on the whole record.

Taken from the album These Kids.

GUEST POST: Kayla is a photographer, writer and grad student studying sociomusicology. Check out her material at her website here.

Austra - Beat and The Pulse

When I saw this video, I really wanted to hate Austra.

And, admittedly, I still kind of do. I mean - look at this video. I am pretty sure Katie Stelmanis and her friends from the acting program at Ryerson University got together and decided to have a minimalist synth-sex dance party and film it in the name of art. In the name of art and for someone’s final project for Interpretive Dance 101.

I digress. I digress because as much as this video is pretentious, American Apparel, art school fodder, the entire Feel It Break album is fantastic. Austra’s classical training is evident throughout the album, but never in an inaccessible, ostentatious way. I saw her perform on a live taping of Q last night and during the interview she said that the transition from classical opera to synthpop allowed her to abandon the lofty goal of reaching a level of perfectionism that is sought by opera singers. By performing as Austra she could be a bit messy and make mistakes and that it all came down to connecting with her audience. By combining two very distinct sounds, electronica and opera, Austra manages to stand out from the other electro-pop acts that have surfaced in the last year by creating music that is both ethereal and fun to dance to. 

Feel It Break is currently nominated for a Juno, a Canadian music award, for Electronic Album of the Year. Fingers crossed, everyone. Fingers crossed.

Vapid- Do The Earthquake

Vancouver punk, but a bit poppier than their contemporaries (such as White Lung). It’s sort of like if the weirder girl songs of the 60s (Egyptian Shumba, anyone?) had their musical spine ripped out and replaced with harsh guitars. Oh, the mental imagery. Grim. Still, this is really great. They released their debut album a whole three years ago, and I can’t find anything about them since, so I am really hoping they’ve not just disappeared like everybody else seems to do. Hopefully, they’ve just been hiding away somewhere recording a follow up that is going to tear everything else apart. Please.

Available on 7” single.

Gaze- Jelly-Bean

All girl trio from Vancouver, although drummer Rose Melberg is actually from California, and has also played in Go Sailor, The Softies, and most famously Tiger Trap . Actually, she’s pretty much played with everyone, including the late Elliott Smith. She’s also released solo material. That’s not to take away from the talents of other members, Megan Mallett and Miko Hoffman, of course. It’s just noteworthy.

Wonderful mix of punk and twee, which isn’t a surprise given the bands they were associated with, and most certainly didn’t hurt their chances of being signed to K Records.

This is from their 1998 release, Mitsemeru.

Plumtree- The Game’s Over

Considering that it’s International Womens Day, I thought I would put all of my attention here… Like I would anyway… BUT I thought I would talk about one of my personal favourite bands, Plumtree.

Chances are, unless you were a pre-teen watching them on YTV’s Hitlist in Canada at some time in the late 90’s (anyone?), you know them from a little movie based on a comic book based on (breath) a title of their song: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

Thanks to this comic/film franchise, this band have had caught the attention of a lot more fans that may have missed them the first time around.

This is my favourite song of theirs. It’s the perfect combination of everything good about this band, in less than four minutes. In particular, when it kicks off at 2:28.

This is from their third release, Predicts The Future.

White Lung- Two Seen

Vancouver punk. Legitimately one of the most exciting bands to come out of Canada in the last few years.

This is from thier first full length LP, It’s The Evil.