Canoe
I Give You Canoe!
Amazing Grease
If you like it loud, sloppy and out of control, I give you Canoe! After a preachin’ introduction, Austin’s Canoe lets loose a fuzzed spew of boxy drums, shoestring guitar and humping hooting organ, backing a vocalist at the high point of his mental disorder. It’s garage rock gone to weed, and guaranteed to polarize – you either see this as the pathetic fumblings of teens, or a brutally honest and brilliant effort.
This loud and raw approach does not imply that Canoe is without talent. Once you get beyond their casual approach to basics like recording technique – honestly, this sounds like the producer and the engineer were in the next room pushing knobs with broomsticks attached to their elbows – the songs are incredibly catchy, and pumping the organ in there gives it an occasional early Devo tone to nicely balance things out. “Don’t Tell” starts out with menacing riff #43, but when the organ chimes in its nursery melody and the vocals drop, it’s a ride that’s uniquely Canoe. Also worth noting is “Corndogs Are Our Friends,” which uses a stupidly simple and catchy melody with cooing vocals to create a song that lives up to its name. Trust me, they’ll be bringing Canoe out of the retirement home to do this one now and again, a real blessing and curse of a song.
So there you have it – if you like it fucked up, melodic and loud, Canoe’s your number one choice right now. I’ll use the keyword one more time, in case you haven’t noticed: Loud.
Canoe: http://www.canoeforyou.com/ • Amazing Grease: http://www.amazinggrease.com/
