At the onset of this new Polaris award nominated record from this Canadian band, I immediately think of another Indie Folk group, Indiana's Murder By Death. Both have that flavorful storytelling gene. Both employ the dark side of human nature and express with minor chords and violins/cellos and low-registered vocals.And at the end of this record, I don't mind saying that I give MbD the edge. They're a little more dynamic musically. Virtually everything included on Creep is based around lilting '50s pop kind of piano chords. So, everything has a similar flare. The exceptions are the three instrumentals. Which is a lot of instrumentals when you only have ten songs and they serve no purpose but to further along a swampy imagery.
But amoung the other songs are some real standouts. Clearly (if you know me) I'm going to pick the most obnoxiously wordsmithy of the bunch to call out as a favorite. The title track kicks off it's lyrical tale with the phrase, "From your chair, my narrative tonight is your dickless cousin, brother, father, pet, friend, husband or wife" and then goes from there.
On the contrary though, I'm also suprisingly enamored by the simplest tune on the record, "Woman". It's got some of that creepy romanticism of the Flamingos' "I Only Have Eyes For You" mixed with an uncharacteristically psychedelic stomp. Maybe its the filthy implications behind his description of putting the "mouth to middle", but I think that my next conquest might just say yes if my seduction followed this soundtrack.
The only true throwaway is "Too Old to Die Young", which does little more than repeat that he's "givin' it all up." Sound like he gave up trying to finish a song. So I guess I'd be surprised that someone considered giving this an award... but is worth a spin. (3 of 5 stars)
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