Rating: NNNN
It’d be a damn shame if people thought the band recently decided to move from Montreal to Toronto because of a lack of appreciation. Whatever the cause, we can consider ourselves lucky to have this five-piece garage/folk/soul/pop outfit in our midst. Satisfyingly eclectic and intently catchy from start to finish, My God covers plenty of ground without ever sounding unsure of itself.
Give Up the Ghost comes off like feisty shout-along pop, and Spongecake nostalgically invokes the garage-rock melodies of old standbys like the Flashing Lights and the Super Friendz. Factor in what could be the album’s best moment, the reflective and bittersweet Two Way Street (Doo-Wop) that builds from singer Denis Woods’s eager croon into a bouncing revelry replete with heart-on-sleeve backing vocals and the whole package becomes refreshingly steady and endearing.
The Dress Whites play Saturday (February 23) at the Savannah Room.
