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Album reviews Music

Bidiniband – In The Rock Hall

BIDINIBAND play the Toronto Reference Library on January 27 and at the Dakota on January 28. See listing. Rating: NNN


You’ll find lots of variety on the new album by Bidiniband, the Toronto-based four-piece led by author/journalist/former Rheostatic Dave Bidini. Its 11 tracks are playful and driving, flirting with genres (including spoken word) and featuring music-nerd nods to Smells Like Teen Spirit, Brown Sugar, Pinball Wizard, etc. Makes perfect sense considering Bidini’s encyclopedic knowledge of rock and roll.

And yet it’s a highly original effort, kooky and humorous, though the latter sometimes works against it. The Best Thing About The 80’s and Popcorn are a bit too jokey-sounding, while other tunes, like On Camoragh Lake, could be trimmed. (Longest song Eunioa, however, runs for over 10 minutes but works, veering in enough disparate directions to stay interesting.)

The more straightforward tunes near the end, particularly Earth (Revisited) and the title track, prove Bidini’s capable of penning his own potential classics.

Top track: Earth (Revisited)

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