I may have missed something, but when exactly did Canada become the hip hot spot for music? We seem to have gone from a land of Nickelback and Bryan Adams to Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Stars and The Hidden Cameras.
Such is the growing influence of the new breed that The Most Serene Republic’s main selling point is the fact that they have nothing to do with BSS, a coolness through disassociation. They do, however, share the same cottage-industry label and approach to music. Like that ever-growing collective, their attention seems to be on the sound rather than the song, and there is no doubting that Underwater Cinematographer is quite a sonic experience.
It flows from track to track, the six-piece messing with rock convention at times, and sticking rigidly to it at others. Such is its nature however, that it takes a few listens for the material to take hold - and even then, some of its grip is fleeting. The moments when they bring it all together are astonishing though, enough to suggest that here is another bunch of musical mavericks to add to the list.