I have to admit, I’ve been sitting on this album for a little while now. What can I say, between general lethargy and an increasingly hectic schedule I just haven’t found the time to give it proper focus. That said, I’m glad that I didn’t rush, as What Keeps Us from Sleeping at Night—the latest from Montreal’s Heroes & Villains—has really grown on me.
To be completely honest, I had no idea who Heroes & Villains were before someone in their camp approached me to take a listen. Turns out What Keeps Us from Sleeping at Night is their second full-length album—who knew? That said, it turns out these guys lost their lead singer prior to recording this latest release (as pointed out by i (heart) music), so all bets are off anyway.
In that regard, if you’re looking for a comparison between this and the Heroes and Villains of old then this isn’t the assessment for you. However, a fresh take on What Keeps Us from Sleeping at Night tells me that, For my money, these Montrealers are at their jangly best when laying down the slightly sloppy and undeniable grooves of songs like “A Letter.” In fact, once the distinctive vocal qualities (re: accent) had gotten my attention it was the bouncy rhythms of tunes like “Pedestrian Ping Pong” and “Val Kilmer” that kept me listening.
The album does tend to languish slightly on occasion, but there’s an overall charm to the relaxed vocal approach in conjunction with the un-pretentious and somewhat lo-fi sound. It also seems to showcase a large range of potential influences—I couldn’t help but conjure up instant comparisons to the likes of The Velvet Underground or The Modern Lovers, and Matt pointed out some Pavement as well.
All told, in the last few weeks What Keeps Us from Sleeping at Night has gone from a background album that I didn’t know what to make of, to a jangly and enjoyable collection of raw and untamed tunes to which I’m glad to give my attention.
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Check out the band’s Myspace page to hear more from Heroes and Villains as well as to order copies of their albums.
May 14th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
It’s interesting reading a fresh perspective on the album…I liked it, but I probably would’ve liked it a lot more had I gone into it without knowing how they used to sound.