Album of the Month: Siskiyou - Nervous (January 2015)

Fans of Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, and perhaps other similarly situated indie rock bands of Canada, should find this recent release from Siskiyou right up their alley. Thirty-sixish days into the new year, this is my album of the year. 

The songs off Nervous are unique, sometimes catchy (hard not to sing along and nod to the ba ba ba bada's and woodblock knock of the opening track "Deserter"), sometimes ominous ("Babylonian Proclivities" sounds at times like it could be a lost track off of Pink Floyd's The Wall), but all of them quite good. Stand out tracks include the anthemic "Wasted Genius," the clap-along "Oval Window" and the uplifting "Imbecile Thoughts." We'll see where this stands at the end of the year, but for now, it is the record to beat in my opinion.



Other favorites from the first month of the year included:

• Ryan Bingham's Fear and Saturday Night
• Dan Mangan + Blacksmith's Club Meds
• Hanni El Khatib's Moonlight

Wilderness of Manitoba - "November"

I know it's the middle of summer, but that's when I'm most likely to trapse around in the woods and, if my friends were more talented, we would all sing and strum around a campfire like the Wilderness of Manitoba, whose backsides are apparently more impervious to the winter chill than mine. Unfortunately, I don't think any of my friends are capable of the beautiful and hushed harmonies on "November," so I'll just have to settle for seeing the band play at the Mission Theater on Friday, August 26th when they open for the Cloud Cult.

Japandroids - Post-Nothing (2009)

No offense to Canada, but I kinda wish this band was American. They're just so good, Japandroids should have been ours.

When I first read that "Japandroids" was the musical portmanteau compromise for two bandmates who each wanted to name their band something different ("Japanese Scream" and "Pleasure Droids"), I was decidedly curious to give these boys a listen, but my laziness got the best of me. And then today I finally listened... and it's just so fucking good. This album grabbed the #1 spot on my "Albums I Wish I Wish Had Listened To Sooner" list, mainly because of the infectious and energetic garage rock noise I could have been enjoying all this time. Albums like this make me wish part of the "friend" job description included a clause about staging musical interventions for other friends "in need." Why didn't someone insist I drop everything and listen to this record? I now urge you to do the same. But I can't be held responsible should you feel the need to air drum the night away, because you will.

Gotta love the eleventh hour upset that leaves you reeling. Post-Nothing has completely annihilated my Top 10 of 2009 that I thought I'd already finished, knocking Harlem Shakes, Phoenix and Animal Collective out of the top spots they'd already secured for the greater portion of the year. Think exuberant music that is slightly rough around the edges, yet manages to lace in a little sweetness and lots of heart. It's noise pop drenched with distortion that is still melodic as hell and slightly danceable... that is, if spinning around your room with your stereo turned up counts as dancing. Its sheer rock vibe is a fantastic contrast to all the synth-pop, quirky indie rock, and electro-indie that reigned supreme in 2009. Post-Nothing struck a sentimental chord because their fun, uncomplicated songs are reminiscent of the good old days of the late '90s and early '00s when my life consisted of blasting Alkaline Trio and The Get Up Kids in my car on the weekends on the way to seeing assorted punk/emo bands [most likely off the Vagrant/Epitaph/DeSoto/Jade Tree Records rosters] with all the inevitable scenesters.

If ever I had to pick an album from 2009 to blast in my car as I drive off a cliff in one blaze of glory and emerge victoriously from the car crash unscathed, Post-Nothing would be it. And "Wet Hair" would be the perfect song to soundtrack the moment.