We can coyly assure you that there is a reason why “Lowiza,” the first single and music video from The Lovely Feathers’ new album, premiered on Playboy.com before many other popular American media outlets. There are images of boobs. It’s the immediate presence of sex that’s plastered all over the lyrics and then played out in a blush-worthy but addictive music video that demanded an edited version for all-ages sites. Self-sex, that is, as song star Jimmy loses his longtime girly Lowiza to herself intimately, because the passion with the couple is nada.
And that might just be the most exciting part of Fantasy of the Lot, though it is a gracious return from the band’s three-year hiatus. When the Canadian group first popped up on tour with Metric four years ago, the Feathers found a cozy spot in the underground music in-crowd. They littered their performances and tracks with great, anthem-driven choruses and rhythm that was altogether happy, completely post-punk and whimsical all at the same time.
The only issue with Fantasy is that the band’s sense of adventure and childish charm that Hind Hind Legs won us other with is now gone. It’s a grown-up sound; it’s a safe bet to see influence and comparison within other Canucks like intelligent and random-riff-friendly Wolf Parade and another Spencer Krug project, the subdued Swan Lake.
“Long Walks” has a delectable enough base of Minus The Bear-esque ambiance, but also an annoying chorus complete with appropriate beeps and boops from the keyboard.
It’s obvious within the first five songs that Mark Kupfert’s voice is likened to a bevy of familiar voices—but for summarizing purposes, think a tenor version and more enunciated than Matt Beringer of The National.
For the rest of the beginning of the album, it plays like the quirky, non-depressed cousin of Band of Horses, and a prominent rhythm never leaves any song alone. It’s catchy, without being as sing-a-long as Hind Hind Legs. The lyrics make a bit more sense, and it’s totally possible that after the hiatus, Lovely Feathers discovered that they had fans, and it was about time they started teaching lessons to waiting ears.
It certainly has that skippable “gah, I hate this one” track. Unfortunate though, that it’s the boring, monotone-laced title track. “Fantasy of the Lot” carries on a dying heartbeat with the tap-tap of a cymbal palpitation, but for a song of three-and-a-half minutes, it carries on too long. Kupfert’s voice can either be described here as forlorn or drugged out of his skull with exhaustion. It even fades out too slow, but at least “Family That Doesn’t Know The Game” comes in exciting and upbeat, like the perfect dance for the perfect twee.
It isn’t until “Vaulted Precedents” comes on that I really see something nostalgic; until I find a unique trick since the opening track. It’s out of tune, it sounds like the motivation for a locomotive, and there’s an odd remnant of Iglu and Hartley’s “In This City.” Yet here’s the unpredictability the band gained notoriety for.
“Lowiza” kicks it in its own right, a devilish bout of lyrics that creep in like a storm and swells every time frontman Mark Kupfert beckons “Jimmy.” But stop there if you’re expecting something to get a little silly to.
Tracklisting:
01. Lowiza
02. Long Walks
03. Fad
04. Gifted Donald
05. Finders Fee
06. Fantasy Of The Lot
07. Family That Doesn’t Know The Game
08. Ossified Homes
09. Argotaker
10. Loading Dock
11. Vaulted Precedents
12. Family That Doesn’t Know The Game (Alternate Version)
The Lovely Feathers: website | myspace
