Grim – Monsters

With surges of sound that move from blues notes to flamenco swells, from waltz steps to rock pits, Monsters rhythms traverse the alternative genre. Monsters is a musical embodiment of the ritualistic attempt at recovery, and gives voice to the frenzied suffering experienced by those left in addictions wake.(SaskMusic)

Natural Sympathies – Strange Heavens

The beat provided by Jeremy MacCuish is propulsive, the persistent handclaps sounding less like happy applause and more dire, like a teacher urging you to move. Goodwyn’s vocal is well written to compliment the crisp sounds by switching between explosive, disjunct phrases and more lyrical melodic lines. The space provided in the chorus for a tweeting motive to playfully answer the words creates wonderful counterpoint, considering the previous lyric was “cannibalism”.(Runaway Pup)

TOPS – Sugar At the Gate (Arbutus)

Montreal’s TOPS sound like they’re ready for a club remix. This isn’t to say that their decision to record their new album, Sugar at the Gate, at a former brothel in L.A. has inspired a shift toward electronica or the gaudy opulence of EDM — rather, it’s the band’s masterful awareness of space in their compositions and confident sense of restraint that leave their songs so open to re-imagination.(Exclaim!)

Youtube playlist

What albums did I miss this week? Would you like me to start adding some tour dates into the mix? Let me know in the comments below.