Barbelith Underground > Radio & Music

I somehow haven't started a thread on this band- despite this record being one of my favourites of the last 9 months. It sounds kind of like Modest Mouse meets the Arcade Fire..., a bit talking headsy, a bit pixies-y, a bit Nirvana-y, with lots of keyboards loud guitars and a couple of quirky vocalists- not surprisingly it was produced by Isaac Brock from MM and the drummer played percussion on Funeral for their friends Arcade Fire. To finalize their position as Canadian indie royalty their guitarist used to be in Hot Hot Heat.

The songs here are ridiculously catchy and stick in your head like familiar friends- from the poppy 'I'll Believe in Anything' (one of the best tracks of last year without a doubt) and 'Shine A Light' to the more dramatic 'Same Ghost every Night' or 'You Are A Runner and I Am My Father's Son'.

I guess the biggest criticism i could level at them is they got lost behind a lot of other great bands- because this is definitely one of the best records of last year- but then last year was an exceptionally good year for music..

Anyway I’m still listening to it- and with each listen it gets better- something of a modern classic if there is such a thing.

Their Myspace page is here with a few tracks and a live video for those uninitiated.

And just as i fall in love with this record all over again i discover they have an offshoot band consisting of Spencer Krug (keyboards and vocals) and some friends. I downloaded a couple of tunes- and have ordered the album off Amazon (not out in the UK yet.. Boo!) It sounds very similar to WP- but with more lo-fi production and more emphasis on keyboards- almost like Krug's demos for WP (as i suspect many of these may well be!)

They also do a version of 'I'll Believe In Anything' which can be heard on their My Space Page.

Anybody else been listening? Anybody have any thoughts? How are they live- I tried to get tickets for the Barfly gig but missed out and bailed when ebay bidding got stupid.

Wolf Parade