Toronto's second-wave (or arguably third) dream-popsters Mean Red Spiders, didn't approach the heavy handedness of their denser predecessors like My Bloody Valentine and Lush, and all the better if you ask me. A little subtly, not to mention a keen ambient awareness, goes a long way, and this co-ed's 1998 debut is a beaut. Places You Call Home, alternates between warm, pastel hues and gentle feedback skirmishes, producing a relatively low-key ethos, where even an unlikely cover of Burt Bacharach's "Trains and Boats and Planes" meshes nicely amidst the Spider's originals.Places...distinctly recalls the eponymous debut album by Dutch shoegazers, The Nightblooms. A probable coincidence perhaps, but if you're familiar with the aforementioned, MRS craft a lucid, less-insular enclave by comparison.
Two more Mean Red Spiders albums would follow, Starsandsons in 2000, and Still Life Moving Fast two years later. The band is apparently still active, as evidenced by newly recorded tunes on their Myspace page (linked above), including a sweet variation of the Beach Boys "Feel Flows."
01. Shiny Skin
02. iiieved cove
03. Trains and Boats and Planes (Burt Bacharach)
04. C1
05. Belle Elemore
06. I Recognize
07. Necktie
08. Eat Without Sowing
09. Meanness
10. Places You Call Home
11. Max
Now available from iTunes, Amazon downloads and Emusic.
2 comments:
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Thanks for the heads up on Husker Du Tribute post. I just snagged it! Thanks a lot bro and more power!
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