Published on May 18, 2006
The Canadians have done it again. From the fledging
Equator Records comes the second release (Islands’ Return To The
Sea launched first in early April), Montreal’s The Lovely
Feathers with their debut, Hind Hind Legs.
The album is an upbeat mix of “post-punk infused
eccentric pop,” as the band describes themselves, and from the
start, they stick to that statement. Hind Hind Legs opens
with “Pope John Paul;” the strangeness of its title accounted for
with a refrain of “Pope John Paul, where’re you from? / Krakow,
Poland, Krakow, Poland!” in this guitar-driven eulogy. It’s only
odder from there, though odd in an absolutely endearing way (sort
of like the conglomeration of characters fused together in the
cover art, along with a wayward deer for good measure).
The almost Franz Ferdinand-sounding “In The Valley”
continues along in the same vein with its jangly guitar, and “I
Really Like You” is one of the standouts of the album. It’s about
as low-key a number as the band can manage on the persistently
energetic Hind Hind Legs, though contrasted by its first few
seconds of hysterical shrieking immediately countered by profuse
apologies and singer Mark Kupfert cramming an astounding amount of
words into a single line, in falsetto, natch.
It’s one of the few sparse moments that the album
pauses to take a bit of a breather, before continuing their
absolutely insane sugar high in “Frantic,” featuring frenetic
drumming. However, the lyrics are lacking something and seem to
rely mostly on delivery instead of actual content.
The high point for me is “Wrong Choice,” which is
almost classic Weezer with its instantly catchy chorus. It’s indie
at its finest, and the most cohesive track on the album,
highlighting the band working their distinctive sound
perfectly.
Also worth a mention are “Rod Stewart” and “Photo
Corners,” the first of which pays a nod to one of the singer’s most
notorious hits with its chorus “If it’s just my body you want / my
body you want / then come on and tell me.” It’s just a fun burst of
short and sweet rock in its two minute run time. “Photo Corners”
enjoys a few seconds as a folky acoustic track before building up
to feature another one of their sing-along choruses and poppy
synths.
The Lovely Feathers are easily comparable to acts
like Hot Hot Heat, the Kaiser Chiefs, The Unicorns or the
aforementioned Franz Ferdinand at times, but they’ve managed to
carve out their own singular sound, though it would benefit from
some refinement on later albums. But for the most part, Hind
Hind Legs is pure enjoyment and guarantees you’re sure to be
bouncing right along with them.