CD Reviews

The Lovely Feathers

Hind Hind Legs | Equator/Island

By CHRIS BROOK | September 5, 2006

3.0 Stars

Conventional wisdom would have this Montreal-based fivesome already enjoying the fruits of being this year’s new big Canadian export, what with their Arcade Fire elbow rubbing and a stint opening for Metric in the States last fall. And the band’s debut for Islands’ new Equator imprint is right up Montreal’s pop alley, with its spastic, tightly wound post-punk pop punctuated by the shrill neo-new-wave yelps of Mark Kupfert and Richard Yanofsky. Yet as relentlessly quirky as the Lovely Feathers seem determined to be, they squeeze an excess of hooks into Hind Hind Legs. The dizzying lead track, “Pope John Paul,” changes pace five times in the span of four minutes; the lilting “Wrong Choice” relies on a skewed Weezer-esque pop sensibility; the catchy, up-tempo “In the Valley” peaks with a slippery Moog breakdown. All the eccentricities do grow wearisome, yet the relatively straightforward “Mildly Decorated” reminds you that the Feathers are capable of appreciating giddy pop music for what it is.