Tangiers
Never Bring You Pleasure
Sonic Unyon
As if there weren’t enough reasons to move to Canada these days, Tangiers’ latest album, Never Bring You Pleasure, has the following sentence at the end of its liner notes: “We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada … for this project.” A federal government helping produce an indie garage rock album? Now that’s what I call progressive! It’s especially funny because this disc is so rooted in retro. Coping licks from mods and post-punks alike, the album’s sound stalls somewhere around 1987, with no adverse effects. “Spine to Necklace” is a pogoing homage to The Jam. The sparse riffing on “I Don’t Love You” could pass as a lost Who single from the ’60s. “Ro Ro Roland” is a Blondie/Joy Division mash up. “I Wanna Go Out” melds the vocal melody of Bowie’s “Heroes” with a ratty two-chord punk riff. None of this is strikingly original, but the quality is surprisingly good, given how redundant garage rock is at this point. Sure, most of the credit goes to the group’s two principal songwriters, Josh Reichmann and James Sayce, but, man, it’s got to be great to have your government’s money flowing through your hands. I doubt even Kerry could’ve pulled that one off…
Sonic Unyon: http://www.sonicunyon.com
