Moglee

Think back -- way back -- to when you were in elementary school.

You're sitting there in one of those butt-numbing, all-in-one desk/chair combos, listening to your teacher drone on about long division or the early Canadian fur trade or something equally blah.

You gaze out the window. The jungle gym glimmers under a blue, cloudless sky, beckoning you.

You glance at the clock on the wall. Tick, it goes. Then, after a long pause, tock.

You fidget. You doodle. You daydream of toys.

Then, at long last, comes the best thing you've heard all day: the bell.

Recess!

Remember the exhilaration -- the pure, unfettered joy -- of bursting out of the classroom and into the playground for 15 minutes of carefree monkeyshines.

This album could be the soundtrack for that moment.

Presumably, that's what Waterloo reggae-popsters Moglee had in mind when they named their fabulous debut album Recess!

The CD jacket features a picture of the four sprightly bandmates leaping into the air off a snow-covered hill, as if they've just been freed from the confines of a classroom.

And then there's the music -- sunny, infectious power-pop that genre-hops around the world, taking cues from Jamaican reggae and Japanese cuddle-core and New York indie-rock.

If members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Vampire Weekend went on a Jamaican vacation together and got loopy on fruity rum drinks, they'd probably end up making music that sounds something like this.

For instance, the chorus of the album's second track, The Penny Song, goes like this: "La la la! La la-la la-la!"

It's upbeat, groove-laden and infinitely sing-along-able. Even the album's ostensibly "sad" song Date Book breaks into moments of giddiness.

That doesn't mean the art of Moglee is frivolous child's play, mind you. There is some serious musicianship on display here, and occasional moments of dark lyricism (such as the song Street Violence and Lemonade, which begins with the lines: "Hey listen up: I'm going to tell all you a tale/Of sex, drugs, guns, money and jail.").

But since the songs are packaged in such accessible and enjoyable melodies, even the grittier lyrics convey a sense of optimism and celebration. Recess! lives up to its namesake -- it's a much-needed break from the everyday monotony, and it's all over much too quickly.

- Colin Hunter of the K-W Record

Here's my take on the year 2008: it rocked. It rocked for me because it was the year I started writing this column, Within Earshot, where I get to review a new local music release every week.

Through this column, I've discovered -- and, I hope, helped other people discover -- heaps and scads of great music being recorded right under our noses.

Granted, a few of the albums have been underwhelming, but the majority have showcased an impressive array of talent in the local scene.

And, of course, I had some favourites, which leads me to this:

My Top-10 Local Albums of 2008

10. The Tyler Schwende Band, Beautiful Catastrophe. A richly textured and slickly produced pop-rock record that belies the word "catastrophe" in its title. Though the songs are built on simple pop foundations, Schwende's musical chops shine through when he builds multi-layered instrumentals atop those foundations.

9. Full Length Mirror, Fabulous Fables and Other Stories To Tell. A surreal, otherworldly album that hearkens to the days of tie-dye and the chemical recommendations of Timothy Leary. Bandmates Cory Williams and Wayne Bond concoct psychedelic head-trips that pay homage to late-'60s garage rock while also sounding thoroughly now. What a trip.

8. Self-titled EP by The Sound Foundation. A galloping ska-pop adventure that almost, but not quite, captures the raw energy of the band's live shows. These funky youngsters combine elements of rock, funk and ska to create a sexy (and sax-y) hybrid designed to make people party. It's a tantalizing tease of the full-length album now in the works.

7. Daddy Long Legs, King for a Day. The young vanguard of Kitchener's strong blues scene, the boys of Daddy Long Legs deliver the album their fans have been waiting for -- a 12-track steamroller of electric boogie-blues. With guitars set to stun and harmonica player Junior Malleck breathing fire, King for a Day proves these guys to be blues royalty indeed.

6. Arrows, Knives are Falling From the Sky. This album was recorded in a remote cabin in a wooded area of northern Ontario, and strangely it shows. There's an earthiness to the post-punk music created by Ryan and Jackie Stanley, a married couple from Guelph (who have since changed their band name to Cursed Arrows). This isn't happy Kumbaya music for the tree-hugging crowd, mind you; it's often dark and haunting, like a night at a secluded cabin in the woods.

5. Ace Kinkaid, self-titled. This hot-off-the-presses album found its way into my CD player a few days ago and has been spinning in there ever since. This is a strange, complex and challenging album that jumps genres with ease. There's nary a word sung on the disc, nor is there a need -- the instrumentals spin amazing yarns. Fans of Battles and Mr. Bungle will love this.

4. Moglee, Recess. An aptly named album given that the music is as fun and carefree as a 15-minute playtime in the schoolyard. Case in point, the chorus of The Penny Song goes like this: "La la la! "La la-la la-la!" It's sunny, infectious pop that takes cues from Jamaican reggae, Japanese cuddle-core and New York indie-rock.

3. Saigon Hookers, Stray Dogs. Loud, dirty, raunchy . . . and catchy as all get out. K-W's indefatigable princes of punk opted to go high-tech this time around, releasing Stray Dogs as a download-only album. Chances are a bunch of computer speakers have since been blown out by their high-octane assault. Oh, and in case you didn't notice, Saigon Hookers is the best name for a band ever.

2. What's He Building in There?, self-titled. Whether you think this album is a masterpiece of a mass-of-crap will depend on your tolerance for hyperkinetic, schizophrenic bursts of insanity. I happen to think it's a twisted masterpiece, but I concede I might just be weird. Imagine passing out on a rollercoaster and having a nightmare while unconscious; this album is that nightmare.

1. West Memphis Suicide, Songo Hollow. My pick for best local album of the year is a 10-tonne slab of southern-fried rock 'n' roll so thick and heavy it melted my car speakers. If Lynyrd Skynyrd and Black Sabbath got into a boozy bar brawl, this would be the soundtrack. Front man Chris Raposo is one of the best guitar shredders in the country, a skill he shows off in abundance on Songo Hollow. Two big devil-horns up.

Of course, my tastes probably vary from yours, so feel free to drop me a line and tell me your best picks of 2008. - The K-W Record