Intermediate work:
Many acts related to those mentioned above are eminently worthy in and of themselves, like Montreal's Stars and Toronto's Metric, whose members all spent time in New York City—a more natural home for the former's urbane techno-pop and latter's gritty synth-rock—before returning to Canada. Metric's Emily Haines and Stars' Amy Millan have also worked with Broken Social Scene, as has Feist, a worldly chanteuse who splits time between Paris and Toronto, and whose two solo albums have become sizable underground hits thanks to their effortless melodicism and "stung sophisticate" pose.
Feist's "Mushaboom" video:
A few years back, Montreal's The Unicorns looked like would-be world-beaters, judging by the buzz that surrounded their lo-fi avant-pop album Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? But the band broke up, leaving key members Nicholas Thorburn and Jaime Thompson to soldier on as Islands, performing a tighter version of The Unicorns' sprawl on the jaunty, moody album Return To The Sea. Montreal is also the home to Wolf Parade, a raging rock act populated by ex-members of Frog Eyes and Hot Hot Heat. The band's debut album Apologies To The Queen Mary was one of 2005's most electrifying records: an aggressively poetic collection of songs equally indebted to Pixies, Talking Heads, and Big Country.
Wolf Parade's "I'll Believe In Anything" video:
Less-heralded but still outstanding, Winnipeg's The Weakerthans combine witty, moving character sketches with slightly off-kilter pop-rock, hearkening back to the wry roots of Can-indie. The band's upcoming Reunion Tour builds on 2003's excellent Reconstruction Site with a deeper, more carefully crafted sound, but with the same involving stories of sometimes-happy, sometimes-pathetic obsessives.
Advanced studies:
Countless Canadian rockers can trace their inspiration back to The Rheostatics, who began gigging around in 1980, and who for the last 27 years have recorded major-label albums as well as their own releases, never losing their club-friendly rock sound and the puckish sensibility that once led them to write an ode to legendary Maple Leafs' defenceman Wendel Clark.
Though their sound is roughly 180 degrees opposite from The Rheostatics, the ramshackle British Columbia shriek-folk act Frog Eyes shares their DIY spirit, reflected in rambling concept albums that combine the dark storytelling of Nick Cave with a distinctive northern chill. Frog Eyes' Victoria neighbors Shapes And Sizes are a little easier to take, though compared to the all-purpose party/working/background-music quality of Broken Social Scene, Shapes And Sizes are more like a box of poisonous snakes. The band's second album, this year's Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner found them getting more confident with tunes that veer from lovely to fractured, with little care for the difference between the two.
Shapes And Sizes' "Teller, Seller":
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