CD Reviews
March 31st 2010
ROYAL CANOE - Co-op Mode
ROYAL CANOE
Co-op Mode
- Head in the Sand
Local five-piece Royal Canoe has been moving bodies and taking names in the city for a little over a half a year now. Their phenomenal debut Co-op Mode, which front-man Matt Peters (Waking Eyes) recorded three years ago with a variety of contributors, will finally be getting its official release July 3. The album is an impressive juggling act, melding sex with sincerity, ballads with balls-out dance beats, all the while creating a cohesive and irresistible groove throughout. From the tongue-in-cheek falsettos on How Do You Like My Body?, the album’s sweaty sextacular dance nugget, to the dark echo beat of Soothsayer, the man is a master of his craft. What’s most surprising is that after all the hooks he throws on the record, in the end it’s Peters’s brilliant storytelling that draws you in. From chess robot love stories (Kasparov) to conjoined twins (Dear June), Peters doesn’t for a second let his words get overrun by the noise he creates. And that’s what keeps you coming back.
This review appeared in Volume 64, Number 25 of The Uniter, published April 1st 2010.
