i(heart)music

The key to fully enjoying Nkazi, the debut EP from Panther & The Supafly, is not being afraid to use the "skip" button on your music player of choice. For example, while the opening track, "Intro", does a decent job of setting the tone for the album, if you listen to Nkazi more than once, there's really no need to revisit it. Even more importantly, you'll always want to jump right over the fourth track, "Garrett Fink Chronicles"; it's an annoying skit right in the middle of the album, and the only purpose it serves is to break up the nice groove created by the preceding two songs. And to round things out, unless you're the type of person who uses the phrase "420" regularly, you'll probably want to skip "Chronicles".

Now, this means that of the EP's seven tracks, you'll only want to hear four of them. Luckily (for Panther & The Supafly and listeners alike), those remaining four songs are pretty outstanding. Three of them -- "Swaggapuff", "Diamond in the African Rough" and "Nightmare" -- are glorious mixes of soul, funk, rock, jazz and world music, throwing together styles with so much enthusiasm that it's impossible not to be swept up by what they're doing. At the opposite end of the energy spectrum, "Black Angel" shows that the band loses nothing of their excitement even when they slow things down. Couple the great songs with the fact that it's available on a Pay What You Can basis, and that makes Nkazi well worth a listen.

To say that my expectations for The Sonic Defense's full-length debut, Upside of Down, were low would be putting it mildly; the more accurate description would probably be "non-existent". After all, to be painfully blunt, they were absolutely awful the one time I saw them live (a sentiment probably shared by the band, seeing as one of their members apparently quit immediately after the show), so I wasn't expectating much of anything when I started listening to the record.

Saying that Upside of Down exceeded those extraordinarily modest expectations doesn't mean all that much then. That said, I'm still impressed by just how much it exceeds those expectations, so much so that I'd even describe the album as "good", rather than merely "not awful". Frontman Rob Boudreau has clearly put a lot of time and effort into coming up with a sound that's all his own, and, as songs like "Stupid Jobs" and "Indie Rock Boys" show, it's something he more or less succeeded at. If I were to really nitpick, I might say that it's a sound that's very much indebted to MuchMusic-circa-1998 or so (think Treble Charger, in particular), but that's only a minor quibble -- after all, with their deadpan vocals and a sound that's the definition of "pop-rock", it's something that suits them perfectly. All in all, The Sonic Defense have come up with a debut that they can be proud of...and, seemingly against all odds, one that's well worth your time, too.

Sick Friend, Draft Dodger (Bird & Flag)

WHO
Weird-pop duo from Montreal.

DISCOGRAPHY
Draft Dodger (Bird & Flag, 2012)

IN A NUTSHELL
Like Sunset Rubdown or Josh Reichmann, Sick Friend specialize in making slightly strange music incredibly, addictively listenable.

THE STORY
I might be doing Sick Friend a huge disservice by calling them "weird pop". I mean, in the big scheme of things, compared to genuinely avant-garde stuff, what they do -- fuzzy guitar and bassy synth riffs -- isn't all that strange. Not like what you'd find on the radio, of course, but they could certainly be a lot weirder. (Of course, if they were, I probably wouldn't find them nearly as enjoyable.)

The better comparison, at least going by debut album Draft Dodger, might be to acts like Sunset Rubdown and Josh Reichmann. Like those artists, Sick Friend specialize in music that's a little bit off-kilter, but not to the point of distraction. In addition, the comparison isn't hurt by the fact that frontman Michael O'Brien has a hiccuping vocal style that's similar to both Reichmann and Spencer Krug.

In fact, it's also not hurt by the fact that O'Brien and Geordie Kingsbury's music is pretty much on par with what both Reichmann and Krug are producing. All nine songs on Draft Dodger, from opener "Cottages" to closing track "Millionth Night", are outstanding. The duo does a great job of coming up with catchy, simple riffs, skewing them just enough to give them a distinctive personality, and then moving on to the next track. There's no fluff, no pointless tangents, no wasted moments: Draft Dodger is just 21 minutes of very good music.

I can't think of many albums that set the tone better than Tuco, the most recent offering from Ox. Right off the bat, they start things off with a cover of Neil Young's "Out On The Weekend", and that tells you everything you need to know about the album.

Okay, maybe not everything, but pretty close to it. In that one song, you can hear that the band has an affinity for tuneful, slightly ragged, '70s-influenced country rock. Then, over the next thirteen tracks, they proceed to show their love of said style over and over again.

I realize that sounds a little negative, but it's not meant to be that in any way. It's simply a statement of fact; just listen to songs like "What I Love About Cars", or "Nico", or "Rock And Roller", and you'll hear Ox being distinctly Neil Young-like in their sound.

And why not? It's something they're pretty good at pulling off. Tuco may not be earth-shattering or anything, but it's a pretty solid record from top to bottom, and well worth your time if you're searching for some old fashioned country rock.

I take a bit of pride in generally ignoring the press kits that accompany albums, but every so often I see why they could be considered useful. For example, I didn't pay much attention to All Of It Was Mine, the most recent album from The Weather Station, for the simple reason that, as far as I knew, they were still a "sister band" to Entire Cities. While that might've been a huge point in The Weather Station's favour at one point, after the massive disappointment that was the last EC album, I wasn't particularly motivated to check in on something that reminded me of that particular scene.

Of course, if I'd read their bio, I'd have known that this version of The Weather Station is an altogether different beast. It's now basically just Tamara Lindeman, getting a bit of help from Daniel Romano and Bruce Peninsula's Misha Bower. And really, going by All Of It Was Mine, it's pretty clear that Lindeman doesn't need much help. She no longer has a wisp of a voice; as songs like "Trying" and "Nobody" show, while her vocals still have an ethereal quality, she's also learned how to give them a little more forcefulness.

At the same time, she's also made huge strides in crafting more interesting melodies. I don't know whether this can be attributed to Romano's presence as producer or simply because Lindeman herself has matured, but whatever the reason, the songs on All Of It Was Mine are significantly more memorable than anything that was on the first two Weather Station albums. It all adds up to make an album that's well worth hearing -- and one that I'm kicking myself for not having raved about sooner.

Sad news for anyone (which is to say, me) who was hoping that Behind Sapphire's follow-up to their self-titled debut would continue on in that first album's sunny, jam band-y vein: they've grown a lot darker. While Diamonds' title track may have some of the laidback breeziness that I loved so much, every song other than that one has a definite edge to it.

All things are relative, of course; what classifies as "edgy" for Behind Sapphire would probably qualify as irrepressibly upbeat for most bands. But still, compared to, say, "Big Steps" (my " favourite track from their debut), songs like "Vancouver, Baby" and "Coconut Highways" could practically be called punk-tinged.

Is the change for the better? Well...no. But it's not for worse, either. It's more of a lateral move, if anything. And thankfully -- for both Behind Sapphire and listeners -- they were talented enough in the first place that a lateral move is good news, too. They may not have replicated the sunny vibes of their debut, but they showed that their knack for writing enjoyable pop songs exists regardless of the specific form it takes. That's more than enough to make Diamonds worth your time and a (free!) download.