Album review: Weaves – Wide Open

Quirky indie-rockers strengthen their stake towards the genre’s more exciting, adventurous fringes.

Weaves’ first record set the bar high, being shortlisted for Canada’s equivalent to the Mercury Prize.

And they’re certainly capable of inspired creative moments – check out their stilted, percussive cover of The Beatles’ Help! – so Wide Open arrives with expectations high.

As lead single #53 attests, they’re not afraid to mainline heavy doses of simple pop motifs, and there’s plenty of fun offered in the taut, glam-rock bass bounce and handclaps of Slicked and the bucking drums and frenzied guitar of closing gambit Puddle.

The quartet’s raucous guitar, clattering drums and boundless energy – not to mention singer Jasmyn Burke’s scowls and yelps – recall Yeah Yeah Yeahs on Law And Panda.

The title track strives for a sense of vulnerability, wide-eyed wonder and confusion at the world and its possibilities, before making way for the excellently ominous, loping and theatrical Scream, featuring primal vocals from Tanya Tagaq. An album highlight with a Tom Waits air, it revels in an aural pigsty of guttural grunts and spoken word, bloopy synths, abrasive guitar, upfront drums and crashing cymbals.

A promising progression.

Rating: 4/5 stars