The Meligrove Band
http://www.meligroveband.com

styles: retro orch-pop, Can rock
others: The Occasion, Mercury Rev, Sloan, The Coral, Supergrass

Planets Conspire
V2, 2006
rating: 3.5/5
reviewer: filmore mescalito holmes


At a glance, Planets Conspire is a collection of typically 'universal' love lyrics matched by esoteric retro-rock noodlings. But, much like the creepy AM psych-pop of The Coral, this is not an easy CD to toss aside, definitively judged. The seemingly naïve optimism of these collective love yearnings blow the doors off any anonymous "fuck you dirty" Darkness track. It's like a concept album update of Stephen Stills' "Love The One You're With," enhanced by a smothering of youthful exuberance. The pacing of the album is benefited greatly by continually evolving arrangements. Aside from the bassist (who takes the bass sound out of Sloan's Pretty Together and puts it to good use here), everyone in Toronto's Meligrove Band plays at least two instruments on this, their major label debut. While similar thematically, each track is its own unique thing, switching ambiance from ethereal to baroque to spastically celebratory and beyond, while still fitting into the full mix of the album. I realize the chances of The Meligrove Band achieving south-of-the-border success on the scale of Avril Lavigne or Nickelback is slim, thanks to the glorification of Jackass/Tom Green stupidity that allows this to be, but as long as there are Canuck releases like this filtering out, at least some people will know it's not totally lame in the Far North.

1. Isle Of Yew
2. Planets Conspire
3. Grasshoppers In Honey
4. Everyone's A Winner
5. Feversleep
6. Ages & Stages
7. Our Love Will Make The World Go Round
8. I'm Easy
9. Free On The Air
10. You're Alive
11. Delivered From All Blindness Of Heart