Music store: The Dears

Ewa and me saw this band in London, on the South Bank Center, in a events that commemorated the 10th anniversary of some discographyic company. The Dears were not even the headliners (Midlake were, that was the day I discovered them; check the music store archive to read about them). I learnt about their existence through Radiohead... yes, yet again. Tom Yorke gathered a list of his favorite songs from 2007, and among them was a song from The Dears. I downloaded the songs, thinking (quite rightly, I must say) that if I like A and A likes B, I will like B as well. And how right I was.

I remember that the guy presenting them complained about the critics, which would define The Dears as bad copies of a whole list of other well-known bands, and he argued that critics that can only describe a band by comparing them to others should get out of the way and do something else. He had a point really. It is true that you cannot avoid hearing influences in their music (Radiohead themselves, The Smiths, Doves...), but it's unfair not to acknowledge the arrogance and lack of fear of these guys when it comes to music: the use of a myriad of instruments, the musical landscapes, the way they can express all sorts of feelings with their songs... they have been defined at times as pretentious. I don't get why. Some of their songs are indeed grandiloquent, but they work. Hell they do. This is, to conclude, very good pop rock. Some of the best around. Together with Arcade Fire, these guys have placed Montreal in the musical maps. Big time.

With songs such as Find the way to our Freedom, Expect the worst 'cos she's a Tourist, Hate then Love, I feel deep, Never destroy Us, No hope before Destruction... this band has all the tickets to become either a cult band or a mass success... not sure what would be better. I just happen to be very happy to have discovered them.

Here's the video to the melancholic You and I are a Gang of Losers: