Circle Gets the Square

“New wave dance-punk.” Catchy. Despite the name, it’s all dudes in this Canadian band. Like Toronto picks up NYC sound. Some Le Tigre quotes, also influences of The Rapture (yelping male vox), Sonic Youth, and Interpol. But still manage to come away with their own style - a range of talent and ability. CLEAN CD. PLAY ALL SONGS!
1)**“Emergency” (3:24). Drums, then same couple of electric guitar chords strummed over and over at fast tempo. 0:27 glam rock-like vox come in. 0:55 to 0:58 electronic synthesizer interlude before screaming vox and instruments crescendo. 2:36 to 2:39 sound stops except for one note keyboard repetition. Instruments layered back in. Ends abruptly at 3:19.
2)*“Body Technology” (2:55). Very dancey. Keyboard intro, complements drums and simple electric guitar chords. Vox in at 0:22. Yells, “Dance!” a lot. Bridge at 2:04 with space-like keyboards in background. Just drums at 2:15, with slow intro of guitar chords. 2:31 tempo picks back up with a yell. Spacey keyboards close it out. Ends at 2:51.
3)**“Broad Cast” (3:57). Mid-tempo. Starts with sounds of children at playground. Layered guitar chords in at 0:06. Keyboards at 0:17. 0:21 drums. 0:50 distorted male vox talking/yelling, and children’s playing sounds stop. 1:19 echo-y vocals. 1:47 talking/yelling vox back. 2:17 with background. 2:31 regular vox. 3:01 low nasal-y keyboards. 3:25 instruments start to drop out. Ends with drums at 3:51.
4)**“Honestly, Trudy” (5:06). Low piano notes with occasional high note. Poppy guitar melody in at 0:07. Drums at 0:21. 0:37 non-distorted, vox in. Unpretentious, but not overly sappy. 3:13 gets into “la da di da dum”s. 3:40 slow guitar chords only. 3:54 picks back up. End at 5:01.
5)*“Superneutral” (4:41). Starts with driving bass. 0:12 drums in. More distinct guitar melody in at 0:31. 1:04 vox in, a lot of long notes. Some yelps and shrieks throughout. Just strings at 2:07 to 2:13. Repetition of “What’s on? Change the channel!” Falsetto “crooning” at 3:46. End at 4:34.
6)**“Seas Like Stars” (7:09). Shoe-gazer. Starts with soft, trippy keyboards. Gentle electric guitar in at 0:07. Drums and bass in at 0:25. Gentle, soft vox in at 0:30. 0:55 some chimes introduced. 1:47 stronger strings and percussion. Bridge at 2:55 (gentle again). 3:59 falsetto echo-y vox. Almost choir-boy-like. 4:30 keyboard mimics vox melody in different key. 6:22 mostly trippy keyboards and strings. End at 7:03.
-margot