The joke goes that Canada is behind America, but Homeshake prove the tables turned—at least in venerable Montreal. As America goes fascists with its rules against smoking, drinking, and public fornication, so goes pop culture in a time warp of fake 50s couture amid a backdrop of sloppy hand holding with 80s and 90s subculture. Enough H&M propagation! Homeshake moves forward, toward a Canada where Quebec is free and Stephen Harper is a bum on the street corner unable to cobble a few loons together (people are turned off by madman ravings). The Homeshake Tape goes all McKenzie-Malkmus-Desser-Sparkles with its mash-up of Canadian humor and American slackerism. But because of it, we’re in love (and strangely confused). The debut of Peter Sagar is crisp and unyielding. The pop soul of “Moon Woman,” the cool cat strut of “Gettin’ Down,” and low end lounge of “Hater” showcasing an understanding of forward thought in a time when nostalgia is a fly trap. Montreal has been coveting a healthy scene of lo-fi, noise, and drone and Homeshake skirts all of it. I’m wrapping up tight in this pop rock blanket and forgetting how America sinks further into hegemony as the world whirls by.
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