Boisterous, male-created, straight-forward power pop is a dangerous genre in which to practice. There are pitfalls aplenty, and just one wrong step can make even the most energetic, well-intentioned album no more than a steamy, 45-minute pile of headache inducing, hit-the-roof-with-a-broomstick tedium.
Luckily, the scrappy Canadian foursome have a lot of important things going for them. The band have been blessed with charm, melodic and guitar chops, and luck in equal measure. In the spirit of being thankful, let’s count the band’s blessings:
1. They haven’t written one perfect cross-over hit for a cellphone or beer ad or something, only to surround it with weepy, lunkheaded ballads and cheap, less catchy imitations of the original (I’m looking at you, The Caesars, Razorlight and The Fratellis). Record in a Bag maintains consistent quality all the way until the end of the record.
2. The band won a battle of the bands-esque contest held by a radio station in Ottawa, Canada that scored them a quarter of a million dollars!
3. They got a distribution deal from Canadian label Arts&Crafts without sounding like one part Broken Social Scene, two parts water.
4. They managed to infuse their straightforward, guitar-driven pop-rock with elements of other genres (Irish traditional/gospel on album standout “What's Everybody Running For? Part III,” for example) without sounding forced or reductive.
Assuming the band keeps in touch with their humble, D.I.Y. roots (the record really does come in a Ziploc bag, complete with confetti and a temporary tattoo) and steers clear of the kind of sterilizing studio sheen that kills many a sophomore effort, the band may just be onto something.
On Record in a Bag, they’re just a better-than-average power-pop band that, if they had a nickel for every time they sang a “doot doo,” would be rich. That, or if they won a quarter-million dollars every time they entered a radio contest, right?
