The Lovely Feathers My Best Friend Daniel. Release Date : September, 2004. Label: Love Your Diary Records. Rating: Andy doesn't dig rating stuff. In the summer of 2004, I hung out for a while in Montreal. It was my first time there, but I'd arrived in the evening, so my host had been concerned over my energy level and asked if I'd like to stay in that evening to rest up. I was too thrilled to be in that grand, arty, Euro-esque city, so I said absolutely not, I need to take advantage of every second I have here. What a great decision to have made! On a whim, my host and I walked down St. Laurent (the 'it' street by far) and eventually meandered past Le Swimming. We checked the night's schedule and saw there was a Battle Of The Bands type thing (which the Feathers later won) going on amongst some groups neither of us had heard or seen before. So in we went, got some beers, took a seat, and waited to see what would unfold. And what unfolded were the spectacular wings of Lovely Feathers. My word, what a sight. They were jumpy, energetic, and utterly unique. I was in love immediately. Now what they said was that they'd be finishing up the album that week and could have a demo to me by the time I left Montreal (July 8). I got a package in the mail some time in November with the completed album. Artists, sheesh. Anyhow, it was worth the wait, because this album reads amazingly well. For a band that carries such a joyous live experience, it was great to see that they followed through with that charisma on the record. The vocals are often squeaky, there's drippy piano instrumentals that take up entire songspans, and all of it is frenzied and shaking and trembling. Okay so there's no way to sugar-coat it - this is weird music. And weird music of this sort can either completely be the band's quick and unfortunate (since they have so much interesting stuff to offer) undoing, or it can propel them to amazing underground hipster-cred stardom (which is the effect they are apparently conducting in Montreal right now). Does this band have a place reserved for it on the mainstream radio stations? Probably not. At least not right now, until all the hipsters catch on and then the radio gods clue in and snag it like they had it from the beginning, and then take all the credit. Do they want or need to get on the radio? Not necessarily. Many bands of this ilk though don't want to be on the radio, and they claim they don't care. But the fact of the matter is, if you want to go somewhere, you're either going to be on the radio for the masses to hear until enough of them pick up on it, or you're going to rely on word of mouth from all those uber-cool kids who snootily proclaim, "I don't listen to the radio." They may be right - radio largely sucks these days, and Lovely Feathers probably doesn't need that kind of exposure. Montreal seems to have its finger on the pulse of such stunning artistry, being the somewhat richly-bohemian culture that it is, but the issue merely lies with being able to take such a stranglehold on music fans outside of that open-to-anything-different city. If anyone can do it now though, this is the band. With the charming instrumentation and really-real vocals, they have instant appeal, seem cutting and creative at first turn, and don't let up on the quality of the music through the whole disc. Everything is wordy and absurd. It's easy to dance to, or tap you toes to, or bounce off the walls to. It sounds like a good time, and it can, without too much trouble, inject fun into any room full of pompous scenesters. It's not whiny or pretentious though in its artiness. We aren't subjected to moody, everything-loathing, self-involved arteeeeests, which is a huge relief. The are just regular guys with some peculiar talents. Even the slow songs (like "Orchids") pick up... that's the most depressing song on the CD and even that one leaps into this bipping, bopping ridiculous sob-story about his puppet running away and a rat eating his dog. See? Good times. I mean, not really, but it's ridiculous. Clever. Ingenious even. That piano sneaks out through the whole disc. It's a gorgeous addition, it's so chiming and pleasant. So anyhow, is weird a good thing or a bad thing?? In this case, immeasurably excellent. This is constantly interesting music. Fuzzy, grinding guitars, chunky drums, and those bonkers vocals! They just sound out of control, so I-mean-what-I'm-wailing. It's not nose-in-the-air arty (like a Broken Social Scene - bless their incredible hearts - might come off at times), but it manages to still be a thumb to convention. These tunes bounce all over their distinctive sound. There's times when the songs start out normal enough, but then they turn around into a heaping pile of whatthefuck. What do you know, "The Bronze" contains another rollicking piano interlude. There's wacky chimes, tinkling sounds, goofy organs... mixed with perfectly-executed guitars. Mr. Fudgicle??? What are they on about?? Lovely Feathers is well worth the listen. It's absolutely brilliant. These guys are real go-getters... read their bio and you'll see what I mean. Now all you folks, listen up, before you miss out! Song of choice : "Icebergs"... the buildup is unparallelled. -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere The Lovely Feathers website Published : February, 2005.