THE LOVELY FEATHERS

The Lovely Feathers seem poised for success: They hail from the buzzing indie beehive of Montreal; they're labelmates with Islands on the newly formed Equator Records; hell, they even have a name derived from the animal kingdom and Marcel Dzama-esque illustrations on their album sleeve. But it isn't merely the contemporary cred signifiers that make Lovely Feathers a potential hype band; it's the music.

Armed with a sophisticated pop sensibility, the Lovely Feathers are never short of musical ideas, as they spastically shift tempo, volume, and style in highly compressed spaces. The songs are unpredictable, leaping from barely-there strumming and whispered vocals to bombastic full-band arrangements. Album opener "Pope John Paul", for example, effortlessly packs at least five different parts-- only two of which repeat-- into less than four minutes.

Unfortunately, the band's eccentric approach to songwriting is mirrored in its disastrously quirky lyrics. Pop music needn't be literate or even literary to be great, of course, but too many of these songs are marred by distractingly precious words. Often the delivery is tongue-in-cheek; elsewhere, cringe-inducers like "I like the chapped skin above your eyes/ Even when you complain about my hives" from "Mildly Decorated" are sung with what sounds like conviction. Such couplets, when paired with this high level of musical invention, mark the Lovely Feathers as heirs to the Unicorns' legacy of smart-ass pop. But where the Unicorns managed to situate their cloyingly cutesy lyrics in an album-wide concept about death, there's no such coherence here, just grating loose ends. Sometimes the lyrics manage to be amusing, but mostly they're as irritating as the aforementioned chapped skin and hives.

Still, there's strong evidence here that the Lovely Feathers are a superb indie pop group in the making; enough, even, to make you forget the lackluster lyrics. "In the Valley" is the band at its tightest, as the thumping bass of its disco-tinged intro gives way to razor-sharp guitar interplay and a swooning string section. "Wrong Choice" is classic indie rock in the Weezer vein, with sing-along verses and swelling choruses.

The Lovely Feathers have the potential to shape their ideas into something more focused, and the songs on Hind Hind Legs would have carried more weight had they not been sabotaged by silliness and fluffy wordplay. Maybe Yanofsky had this in mind on "Ooh You Shocked Me", when he sang, "Who has a heart? I have a heart." Perhaps next time, he'll prove that sentiment to be more than just another ironic line. - Pitchfork Media

In 2006, Montreal's the Lovely Feathers broke onto the scene around the same time as Vancouver's Mother Mother and Hamilton's Wax Mannequin, creating a trifecta of quirky Canadian indie rock as unique as the musical landscapes from which they emerged. As the Lovely Feathers' debut, Hind Hind Legs, contained honey and vinegar melodies that virtually fell over itself, their follow-up finds the five-piece much more composed and results-oriented, eliminating their "quirky for the sake of" motif. By the time the listener comes across the stiff, sugary "Finders Fee" nearly midway through the album, it's apparent that the Lovely Feathers have decided on a uniform sound — martinis served in an oversized sombrero — as the regal bass and jester guitar of "Vaulted Precedents" attest. Fantasy of the Lot still finds a band moving in every which way possible but in the case of the Lovely Feathers, every direction seems to be the right one. - Exclaim

Rock star-worthy drama was the plat du jour of this year's Pop Montreal festival, which featured well over one hundred shows in venues around town. First, local up-and-comers Hot Springs broke up. Then came the vintage gay porn soundtrack (see No. 5 below). Yet Pop's piece de resistance remains its feisty homegrown talent. So after a five-day blur of concerts, cabs, and directing drunken out-of-towners to bagel, smoked meat, and poutine joints, we picked our Top 5 contenders to sport the Arcade Fire crown. Oh, the drama. Can you handle it?

1. Megasoid:

Grinding, bass-heavy, synthy electro-crunk only loosely describes this groundbreaking project of Wolf Parade's Hadji Bakara and Robert "Speakerbruiser" Squire, who used to produce as Sixtoo. These sweaty musicians delivered a live "street-bass" PA set (using synth, laptop, and MPC pad) that got us down and dirty on Coda Club's packed dance floor. Simply the festival's best party.
www.myspace.com/megasoidkult

2. Hollerado:

These hockey-loving, Ontario-bred, power-pop indie rockers convinced Kids in the Hall actor Dave Foley to appear in their hilarious "Americanarama" video. They also packaged their self-released EPs in plastic baggies, hence the titles "Demo in a Bag 1 through 5." Crazy-catchy melodies, raging hooks, and headbang-worthy guitar riffs seal the deal.
www.myspace.com/hollerado

3. Lovely Feathers:

Fun, quirky, pretty pop hooks and jolly keyboard melodies with Ska rhythms and earnest vocal howls have made a local favorite of this Vampire Weekend-esque, geek-chic band of pals who met at McGill University. They've toured with the likes of Metric and have a album on the way -- heck, they're on the way!
www.myspace.com/thelovelyfeathers

4. Random Recipe:

With rapper Fabz beatboxing over live rhythms, piano, and guitar, and the gorgeous vocal melodies of Franster, this crew of local ladies was one of Pop's most haunting surprises. Their downtempo track "Something on my Mind" showcases Random Recipe at their best.
www.myspace.com/randomrecipe

5. Socalled:

Live in a porn theater and accompanied by a band that included Final Fantasy's Owen Pallett on violin, klezmer-meets-hip-hop artist Josh Dolgin, a.k.a. Socalled, performed an original soundtrack to gay porn classic Cruisin' 57. As the film screened, the full house of hipsters took in both music and sexy times, sans uncomfortable snickers. Schtick aside, the music was epic, and the Dolgin's choirboy voice and clever raps reminded us why he's earned a cult following.
www.myspace.com/socalled - SPIN