Souvs

The Black Car EP, by Souvs

“And I will walk, underneath streetlights to the park, and I’ll watch the sun come up.”

Souvs are a four piece alternative indie band with a sound similar yet still unlike Arcade Fire, Tokyo Police Club, Stars, Said the Whale (to a name a few Canadian examples); they delve into deep sonic territory just as often as they stick to the shallower, fluffy stuff.

From the top of the EP, featuring their vocalist/keyboardist Sarah Martens on guitar, “Chill Out” is an appropriately titled instrumental opening to this offering by the band; it’s certainly reminiscent of “post-rock” bands like Explosions in the Sky while still remaining low-key throughout the number. It’s a brilliant reminder that this band has songwriting chops and charm before they even start adding vocals into the mix.

“Black Car” is both the title track and second track on the offering. It starts with a swinging 6/4 beat; the band is unafraid to experiment with different time signatures to express different feelings. The chorus moves from a lower rumble to a broken down version and then to a grand finale; the melodic interplay between Sarah and Derek Ewanowich’s (vocals/guitar) voices helping to create beautifully consonant structures and make the repeating chorus that much more interesting.

The slap-back echo on the guitar track in “Sundance” is one of the signature sounds heard from this EP; not to mention it serves as an excellent canvas for the vocals at the beginning. The rumbling bass-lines provided by Corey Mahar are stark and evident beneath the fanciful guitar play; this song also features Josh Brown (percussion/vocals/others) singing the first lines in the chorus part, with Sarah coming in over top of his vocals and then both of them finishing it with the hook. This song from beginning to end is a delight to listen to. It’s hard not to smile when you hear the first droning notes of the synthesizer at the end with the accompanying vocal hooks coming in over top of them.

Lastly, the EP comes with a “hidden track.” I don’t want to say too much about it, in respect to the band’s choice to make it “hidden” per se, but it’s a really lovely acoustic track that showcases the talent in the band without being overly flashy, even during the noisier section of it; probably the perfect antithesis to the opening track and thus a fantastic way to finish the EP.

Overall, the recording style is good; clearly the tracks weren’t done in a “professional recording studio with professional gear sitting on professional chairs… etc.” but the basement-recording vibe actually lends the EP a lot more charm than a perfect recording set-up could ever do.

You can get the EP here: http://souvs.bandcamp.com/album/the-black-car-ep

Attention Deficit Listeners: Try “Black Car” or “Sundance”

Arbitrary Number Score (ANS): 9/10 - Old World Cadence

The initial poppy riffs have a great clean-tonal quality, albeit low-fi, but it will remind you of old Eric's Trip releases, again just cleaner. The lead off It's A Start is a Stars type number with male and female vocals both, but the album builds from there. Rather than just being a one dimensional keyboard/telecaster pop pony, this horse ends up as one of a darker colour. By the time you get to Is Is Is you see the more serious side of the Souvs. That in contrast to Connecting Flight which gives me more of a Tokyo Police Club vibe. - Out My Passenger Window

Souvs release new E.P.

For being a new band, the Souvs are already making a name for themselves. These cats really know what’s up, with a sound reminiscent of Best Coast and The Arcade Fire. The EP is filled edgy pop grooves and insightful lyrics. You’ll be hooked as soon as you hear it. Watch for these guys - Noise Bread