Song, by Toad

This is an unassuming little EP, low key and uninsistent, and yet it is one which hit me immediately for a change.  The slightly nasal vocal reminds me strongly of Dan Bejar, although the music is more Destroyer than New Pornographers, dominated by a regular thrum of acoustic guitar, which slows on occasion to a more deliberate strum full of slow, contemplative piano.

For an EP which generally eschews the pop aesthetic, Ilona, You Should Still Be My Vampire Attendant is a surprisingly infectious pop song, but the rest of the EP is generally a little slower and less insistent.  Funnily enough I find the opening song to be the weakest.  There’s a sort of cod-barroom jazz beat underlying I Loved John which actually reminds me of early 90s MOR-period Everything But the Girl.  The vocals rescue it from being too much of a pastiche, but nevertheless, I am not gripped.

For the rest of Every Rival, that’s emphatically not the case.  The music may not be aggressive in its demands for attention, but I’m finding it really immediately lovely nevertheless.  It has a kind of determined purpose to its underlying sadness, as if it may be down but it’s not beaten.  I’d almost say that there was something quite definite and certain about the tone of the music, actually. I really hope there’s more where this came from.

Virgin of the Birds – Ilona, You Should Still Be My Vampire Attendant

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