NEWSOUNDS
Corb Lund Cabin Fever (New West)
"When the oil stops, everything stops," is how Corb Lund begins "Gettin' Down on the Mountain," track one on album number seven. Over creeping, dueling guitar riffs, it's a scathing rundown of societal meltdown and most city slickers' woeful lack of basic survival skills—which, y'know, fair point. It also reveals the wry, sharp observational tone that colours Cabin Fever right form the get-go. From the sly snark of "Bible on the Dash," which finds an alternate use for The Good
Metric Synthetica (Metric Music)
The fifth album for the Canadian group gets off to an interesting start, with vocalist Emily Haines explicitly stating, "I'm just as fucked up as they say" in the album opener "Artifi-
Shovels and Rope O' Be Joyful (Dine Alone) Shovels and Rope make the standard folk duo set-up bristle with vitality and grit. The S&R take lets traditional sounds get punched up and rearranged with the duo's spirit and gorgeous sense of vocal delivery: Cary Ann Hearst has a gravedigger edge to her voice, especially when she really belts it out like on opener "Birmingham." It balances well Michael Trent's own softly smoked vocals, both when they trade off, but moreso when they harmonize. Same goes for the album's instrumentals, too—mostly done by the pair, with a few guests scattered through-
38 MUSIC
Book, to the suicide ballad "One Left in the Chamber" and "Priceless Antique Pistol Shoots Startled Owner," plenty of the songs here rank among the finest Lund's ever crafted, with his backing band the Hurtin' Albertans finding a well-oiled lockstep with their frontman at every turn he takes. Even the rural non-sequitor "Cows Around" (which Lund ends with a well-delivered moo or two) does well to balance out the album's pace. A bonus disc of the album done acoustically just showcases how much of Cabin Fever holds up when stripped down, too. PAUL BLINOV
// PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM
cial Nocturne." This sets the tone for what's to come, which is an intricate and thought-provoking collection of songs where Haines' lyrics range from world-weary to vulnerable and innocent. Accompanying Haines' philosophical vocals are melodies weaving between '80s vintage electronica, dreamlike soundscapes and heavier, industrial beats as heard on the radio hit "Youth Without Youth." Other standouts run from the title track, which delves into resisting the pressures of society, to the catchy beats of "Speed the Collapse," before closing on an uplifting note with the line "I've got nothing but time / So the future is mine." Overall, Synthetica is exactly what fans can expect from Metric, and is just as interesting to listen to for its instrumentation as it is for its lyrics.
Crucified Barbara The Midnight Chase (Nuclear Blast) Generic metal— played well, but without the songwriting chops to add a spark— brought crashing down by brain-dead lyrics: "Rock me like the devil / Whip your tail and turn me on / You turn me to 11 / Leave me burning when you're done," singer/guitarist Mia wails at one point. You've got to have some mighty strong songs to come back from that lyrical place, and that's not the case here. EDEN MUNRO
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Cadence & Nathan Cadence & Nathan (Independent) Cadence & Nathan, brother and sister folk duo, have crafted a slick debut, with picked guitars, steady bass and expertly rattled drums providing a rolling backdrop for their songs. The two singers trade off on lead vocals, with Nathan's voice providing a lazy, nasal counterpoint to Cadence's vibrant tone, and they work well whenever they fall in together. The melodies are strong throughout, though as the coffehouse-folk album draws on there's a touch of sameness to the sound—the duo is starting out on the right road, but would be wellserved by a few scuff marks on the sound, bringing it more in line with lyrics that often touch on loss, expired love and other darker subjects. EDEN MUNRO
// EDEN@VUEWEEKLY.COM
Ground Level Falcons Ground Level Falcons (Independent)
MEAGHAN BAXTER
out its 11 songs. Old shapes get lively interpretations: roadsong "Keeper" blends a harmonica and fiddle together in its main riff, which together sounds like a joyous declaration. Underneath some of these songs hides a lingering melancholy, settled in behind the bulk of its action, but that never overpowers the lively zeal that powers Shovels and Rope's songs. Instead, it just deepens the background: the album's title, O' Be Joyful, sounds like a call to be so in spite of everything and anything—sage advice delivered with all the velocity of a band realizing it has something to say, and it's going to say it loud.
The self-titled debut for this Edmonton quartet— formerly known as Vox Humana prior to welcoming its new bass player in late 2011—is a solid collection of rock tunes that take listeners through a range of emotion and style. Ground Level Falcons performs with a sense of maturity, which comes through with a well-developed style of storytelling that brings to light some of the personal challenges each member faced during the making of the album. With stand out tracks like "Cease/Desist" and " ... Slowly Into Winter," Ground Level Falcons are off to a promising start, though a little more experimentation wouldn't hurt on future albums to show more range in tone and tempo than its tried-and-true, yet strong, rock sound.
PAUL BLINOV
MEAGHAN BAXTER
// MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM
// PAUL@VUEWEEKLY.COM
VUEWEEKLY AUGUST 16 – AUGUST 22, 2012
// MEAGHAN@VUEWEEKLY.COM