Album review: A Year’s Supply of Rabbit’s Feet by The Guest Bedroom
A Year’s Supply of Rabbit’s Feet (out on Popsick Nov. 19) is Toronto outfit The Guest Bedroom’s fourth release and most dramatic, mature to date. Its 11 organ-punk tracks vary with dissociative dance (Tough Luck, streaming below), hints of psychedelia (Dead Ends), and paining, spooky violins (Pulling Teeth).
Opening track Cursed is even catchier than GB’s past singles, but pop is put by the wayside as their so-often described ‘angularity’ is in full force; in fact, it ventures into ‘circus’ territory, most prominent on Ugly Thoughts. It takes an offbeat person to enjoy a dark, spastic-yet-playful circus vibe, not to mention that song’s lyrics (given many of us are barely maintaining jobs we don’t like in a recession we don’t deserve: “This is a warning that you’re under-performing and you should show up a little more prepared,” Sandi Falconer yells.) Falconer’s vocals hint at legends of the 80s, perhaps a more polished Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney on SOS, maybe a talk-singing Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth on Tough Luck. The clarity in her voice always works well with the organ (as fellow Torontonian Katie Stelmanis can attest).
A ‘year’s supply of rabbits feet’ denotes a lot of good luck – luck which, with an album like this, The Guest Bedroom will need a lot of in order to break out of Toronto’s underground. But something tells me they are just fine hanging in the drammy, dark and damp basement of indie rock. -Marsha Casselman
[...] The Guest Bedroom also have a long history with Wavelength and seemed just happy to be part of the off-kilter [...]