It’s exciting, picking out a CD for the column and hearing it for the first time. Last time, I picked the first one with a cover that caught my eye in hopes of hearing something new. But that didn’t turn out so well. This time, I went with a cover that was somewhat reminiscent of Fleet Foxes’ 2008 self-titled album. And a quick Wikipedia search showed that the Russian Futurists have toured with Caribou and Peter Bjorn and John, so they have to be good, right? It seems I might have to change my strategy for picking out new music.
The Russian Futurists’ 2010 album, The Weight’s on the Wheels, fronted by Toronto’s Matthew Adam Hart, falls somewhere between synthpop and indie rock. A first, I thought of comparing it to the likes of the Postal Service and Matt and Kim, but re-listening to those artists proved it would be too inaccurate a comparison.
The album abounds with trite and simplistic lyrics on every track, such as “I looked around, and boy I caught you staring / You and I, we’d make the perfect pairing” and “You’ve got regrets, we’ve all got ’em / Summer, winter, spring, and autumn”. My favourite couplet has to be “And with one look I was hooked on trouble / Cause she’s got eyes that make the Great Lakes puddles” from the track “Plates”.
Other than that, the music isn’t all that bad. It varies little from track to track but Hart maintains a very dance-y vibe throughout the record. If you can get past the laughably sappy lyrics and into the instrumentals, you may be able to find your groove and actually strut your stuff to this album.
