SPOILER ALERT: In our Dec. 27 issue we review six or seven CDs that came into the office over the year and kind of slipped through the cracks and weren’t reviewed. There’s two discs that didn’t get included in that round-up that I’d like to shine a little light on now. They were both released on the Toronto label Aporia. Julie Dorion, Foam Lake and Lily Frost are all on it. The first CD came into the office in June. It was by a Vancouver band called Catlow, and its title was Pinkly Things. Then in August we got an album by Toronto-based Shoot the Image called Cranes in the City.
“A unique sound almost reminiscent of The Smiths combined with new wave Brit-pop/mod-rock” is how one critic describes Shoot the Image. Catlow is fronted by Natasha Thirsk (ex of the Dirtmitts), and their sound has been described as “hopelessly catchy” with “arrestingly angular grooves” and “lithe intelligent vocals”.
My favourite song from Cranes in the City is “Encore”, but I couldn’t find video for it so here’s Shoot the Image’s video for “”Lithograph”. Below it is so-so video of Catlow performing their song “Stars Will Guide” at an HMV showcase in Toronto in June:
