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Canadian Invasion: Blame the Robots EP
[Piney Power]

First off, this record has a fabulous name.  This six-song (five listed, one hidden) EP is a great-sounding debut record with slick production and a modern sensibility.  The DC-based five-piece has listened to all the usual suspects and put together a nice collection of songs. 

The disc starts off slow with Birmingham, which has a nearly melody-less keyboard melody that soon breaks into a sing-along chorus.  Backed by a distorted drum loop with effect-laden vocals, the song doesnt go anywhere we havent been before, but it is a solid effort.  This is followed by the electric and strummy Graduation Night, where the occasionally plain vocals are obscured by the pure earnestness of it all.  Drift Away has a big Britpop feel to it, with its chorus especially giving off a big Oasis-vibe. 

The production by Stewart Myers gives the album a cohesive feel, and the songs easily blend together without sounding all alike, which is especially nice for an album that relies on many of the modern-rock tricks of the trade: drum loops, keyboard noises, etc.  The stuff doesnt get stale, and you can listen to this EP all the way throughuntil you get to the hidden track.  This final song, a version of Sound of Silence, is rudimentary at best.  It starts off like your usual bar band cover song, and soon turns intowell, a bombastic bar band cover song.  After five pretty good original songs, putting this at the end just seems superfluous. 

Blame the Robots is a great debut, and Id highly recommend picking it up from aware.com.  I would also recommend that you enjoy the five originals by themselves, and skip the cover.

This album can be purchased at Awarestore

Canadian Invasion Official Website

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