Mother mother

Rocking the fuck out of Vancouver, British Columbia - as are many bands after my own heart these days - comes Mother Mother. This five piece ensemble does some magical things to the auditory sensory area of my brain. Their second release, O My Heart, is a whirlwind tour of dark, layered pop that's at once creepy and accessible: not a bad combination to master on a sophomore attempt! So like, Kudos. I just can't get enough of the falsetto-ish girl/boy harmonies and crisp annunciation (yeah, sounds like a weird thing to love... but it really makes some of the tracks).

The title track - O My Heart - starts off with a bass line that gives the initial impression that this is going to be a pretty pop song. That lasts for about ten seconds before the ringing lead guitar picks up the melody in a minor. From this point forward, there's no mistaking the heart-wrenching (pun fully intended) intention of the track. Which I leave for you to discover, dear reader. Despite it all... I could really still dance to this. It's a perfectly-crafted pop song, after all. Just with some seriously dark undertones. And overtones. Mmmm.

The next masterpiece to stumble gracefully off the album is the track Hayloft. The sound is a hybrid of pure Canadian indie-rock and Japanese pop-punk. I absolutely love the aggressive sound and the innocently kinky lyrics, not to mention the drums that sound like tripping iambs. Talk about getting a wave of the horns. There's a really neat fan-made video on YouTube if you've got a few minutes that need killing.

Arms Tonight has a pretty standard love-song construction from the instrumental side of things. Coupled with some mushy lyrics [that eventually turn literal], it gives me warm-fuzzies everytime it comes on. Shit... I haven't said warm-fuzzies since Kindergarten. Whatever, I still love this track and crank it often.

There's a ton of other gems on this album, so the best advice I can give at this point is to get your hands on a copy. This is for sure the kind of album I had to listen to a few times over besides more than a song or two stood out, but it was worth the investment.

If you're in the Ottawa area this summer, they'll be playing the Blues Festival on July 12th!

Pretty, pretty please come do a show in Edmonton soon. :)

Update: Playing at Capital Ex in Edmonton on July 23rd!