Gang Vibe

Something For All Of Us
Broken Social Scene presents: Brendan Canning
Arts & Crafts, 2008
3.5 stars

Kevin Drew’s BSS Presents solo album sounded like … yep, another BSS album. It wasn’t a bad thing, but those expecting something different were left looking elsewhere. Brendan Canning’s effort is much the same, but his vocals make a nice change from Drew’s and his subject matter is more indebted to late ‘80s and early ‘90s indie acts like Dinosar Jr and Sonic Youth. Something For All Of Us is still a unashamed pop album, its wide range of styles on par with that of BSS’ wonderful and far-reaching breakout album You Forgot It In People. Fans of the collective will lap up the textbook anthemic numbers though, full of horns and wall-of-sound guitars. All in all, this is a solid album – now that Brendan has found his voice, let’s hope we hear a bit more of it on further BSS records.

Artwork: B
If you ask me, Arts & Crafts have kind of shot themselves in the foot with their design template. Every digipak they release has the same 'spine' design, just with different colours and textures, and though it might form a strong brand, it's meaning that the album covers themselves aren't as strong. This cover, with its sketchy hand-coloured illustration style, would've looked waaay better without the strip of yellow running down the left-hand side (and for that reason I've left the spine off my crap hand-drawn version, above).

Published in mX, Thursday September 18, 2008.

Same Social Scene

Spirit If ...
Broken Social Scene presents: Kevin Drew
Arts & Crafts, 2007
3.5 stars

Okay, so here we have a 'solo album' by Broken Social Scene's frontman, presented by Broken Social Scene, with almost every member of Broken Social Scene featuring on it. In terms of actually being a solo album, this is the like a kid 'running away from home' and hiding in the carport - Drew has hardly flown the coop. And thank the gods for that - Spirt If ... picks up right where BSS' excellent self-titled 2005 release left off, with the same carefully-arranged clutter of strings, woodwinds and percussion and just the right amount of slacker attitude. Drew is a modern-day hippie, known for spontaneously hugging crowd members at gigs, and Spirit If ... really captures his warmth and great songwriting skills. And as if enlisting the entire BSS collective wasn't enough, he's also got Dinosaur Jr's J. Mascis and Pavement's Spiral Stairs lending their axes. Impressive.

Artwork: C

Published in mX, Thursday 27 September 2007.