Album review – The Balconies self-titled
The Balconies play the Horseshoe on Saturday, Dec. 12
For all its apparent simplicity, a pop song is one of the hardest things to perfect. A band can throw in all the math rock time signatures and prog flourishes it wants, but it’s rare to find a group that can create a truly memorable hook, let alone enough memorable hooks to furnish an entire album.
This is why, despite its ostensible vacuity, The Balconies’ self-titled debut has been getting so much love around the city and why, since relocating from Ottawa to Toronto, the group has become such a go-to act for any local promoter looking to fill out an indie rock bill.
Throughout its 37 minutes, The Balconies teems with enough catchy guitar lines, bouncy basslines and impressive vocal harmonies to fill at least three LPs, but hidden underneath the glossy production and the infectious pop sheen is a surprising complexity that only reveals itself after multiple listens.
At first, the reference points seem obvious – New Pornographers, Mother Mother, and maybe even a bit of Blondie – but under the upbeat power pop umbrella, the album has some darker mood-pieces (“Hollow Bones”, “The Slo”), some full out dance-rockers (“Battle Royal”, and some angular post-punk via early 00’s Bloc Party/controller.controller (“Lulu”, “Skinny Dipper”).
The Balconies still can’t be considered the most diverse album ever recorded – the songs all rely on a set of beguiling melodies – but its lent endless replayability by the youthful energy and impressive instrumentalism with which it’s delivered.
In pure power trio fashion, drum, bass and guitars play off each other, taking turns anchoring the melodies and at times taking a backseat to one, two and three part harmonies. Jacquie Neville has received a lot of praise for her impressive range and huge pipes, but her brother Stephen’s more nasal, indie style brings just as much to the table.
The Balconies tried hard to capture the volume and danceability of their performance on the album, but it’s still given an extra oomph in a live setting. Lucky for you, The Balconies are playing Audio Blood’s year-end Jingle Bell Rock concert on Saturday, December 12 at the Horseshoe. Also on the bill are Oh No Forest Fires, Make Your Exit and Clothes Make The Man. – Richard Trapunski
[...] Frank Yang of Chromewaves. “Especially when it’s as catchy and assured as [The Balconies].” We agree. 2009 was a big year for the self-assured power-trio, not only releasing an album “bursting with [...]
[...] The Pinecones’ next scheduled show is on March 5 at The Garrison, but we imagine now that they’ve settled in Toronto we get the feeling you’ll be hearing a lot more from these tie-died Haligonians. Hey, it’s worked for The Balconies. [...]