By Divine Right - Sweet Confusion (2004) torrent

By Divine Right - Sweet Confusion

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Reported by: boxy - Monday, Sep 13, 2004. 18:02





This seems to be a Canadian week for me. After reviewing The Tea Party’s single Writing’s On The Wall, I’ve landed myself a release by another Canadian band, By Divine Right.



By Divine Right have been around since 1990, and have been lauded in their native Canada, for making eccentric rock and roll. They are one of those bands that have never had a stable line up, with the number of ex-members now running into double digits. Jose Contreras is the one stable member of the group. Contreras, not to be confused with the Major League baseball player of the same name, has become a fixture in the Canadian music scene, working with the likes of Ron Sexsmith and The Tragically Hip.



Sweet Confusion is the band’s fourth album. their last, Good Morning Beautiful, was released in 2001. Whilst Sweet Confusion treads the well-worn path of noisy indie pop rock, it is a great example of how entertaining it can be. This album is a bit of a grower. On first listen it sounds a bit derivative, but it’s only once you’ve gone beyond the first few tracks that you start to pick up the nuances of this recording. It is a varied work, ranging from noise rock of the same ilk as The Music, through to emo pop like The Flaming Lips and Weezer. It’s quite a compelling listen once you get past the first couple of songs.



Sweet Confusion and All Over It! are really captivating. The band have likened each of the songs on this album to “a unique portal to an imaginary AM radio station”. Each tune is distinct, but they all hang rather well; unlike some albums where you’d be better off burning a copy with the songs in the right order. The use of radio play samples adds to the idea of each track being a different radio station.Songs like City City, Listen To My Angels and Soft Machine (which I could have sworn was a song by The Eels from the opening bars) reinforce the band's indie credentials. With the support of Australia’s independent radio stations, the band will surely develop a strong fan base as bands like Modest Mouse have done.