UPDATE DAY
What to listen to through all the news? Stéphane Plante and Charles Laplante of QUB musique point out 5 essentials!
GLAM – LIGHT ***1/2
An ambitious project to revitalize the status of rock star as it was in the 70s. The GLAM of this album gives more in the seventies pop à la Elton John (even Jobriath) rather than in the authentic glam of the New York Dolls, T. Rex or Slade. The title track still brings back a bit of rock elements without overflowing either. Overall, it's more the general spirit of this concept album that refers to glam. With Rock Bandas an opening, we still understand quite well the content of the pop epic that begins (“to live from music, you have to know how to destroy yourself”). The themes precisely revisit, without being too clichéd, the fantasized reality of a rock star. Even if we would have taken more volume in the guitars and the drums, this exercise in style is very easy to listen to. Admittedly, the ballads dethrone the well-felt rock tunes in number, but tracks like Sacrifice or Rock Steady save the day. And let yourself be seduced by the impeccable cadence of the What are you thinking about earglass. (Stephane Plante)
Listen to the album here!
First Two Pages of Frankenstein – The National ***
Let's say it straight away, this ninth album from one of the most popular indie rock bands on the planet is a comeback after two slightly less convincing albums. The only possible complaint is the lack of surprise. Despite the undeniable quality of the compositions and the prestigious collaborations (Sufjan Stevens, Phoebe Bridgers and Taylor Swift), we are left with the feeling of having already heard these songs on the group's best albums, namely Boxer and High Violet. Are The National becoming the Ramones of spleen? (Charles Laplante)
Listen to the album here!
Dying in Canada I (EP) – Wildlife ****
Promising that this project led by Jérémie Essiambre. A bit indie rock on the edges with simple but effective melodies. And above all, lyrics that stick well to the arrangements as evidenced by Laisse moi le temps. WhileClandestin offers an original structure that encourages us to come back to it more than once. This brief intrusion into the corpus of La Faune makes us want to know more about the sequel to Dying in Canada I. (Stéphane Plante)
Listen the album here!
A zoo at night (EP) – The Husky ****
From the outset, The Husky invites us to an offbeat groove with L'hippocampe. Then, he makes us relive the shady alleys of the Bazar St-Michel by listing the sometimes unusual items found there (“a deer leg ashtray” or “racist posters”). Implicitly, we detect a certain deadpan side in his poetry. The bird, which ends this mini-album, proves perhaps the most fascinating of the lot with its innovative instrumentation. A particularly successful animal theme. (Stéphane Plante)
Listen to the album here!
Euphoric Recall – Braids ****
From the very first bars of Supernova, the personality at all a new effort by the Montreal group led by Raphaelle Standell-Preston wins. Complex, experimental, orchestral and above all irresistible. On their fifth lap, the trio has become very comfortable in the studio and they assume their risky and surprising choices to talk to us about love for themselves and others, a complex subject if ever there was one. We weren't bored for a single second of the nine minutes Retriever lasts and the other songs are just as appealing. (Charles Laplante)
Listen to the album here!
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