Lanes

Hailing from the same city as Painted Thin, the Weakerthans and Propagandhi has obviously had an effect on Winnipeg's the Lanes. Their debut full-length offers up a similar mishmash of speedy melodic punk and interesting off-kilter chord progressions and arrangements as their homies - a sound best exemplified on the track "Atlantic Ocean," which features quasi-poetic lyrics, math-meter breakdowns and glockenspiel, all in under three minutes. But where this trio differs is in their affinity for a simple pop hook and the decidedly apolitical message in their music. Imagine Rush attempting to write Weezer-type tunes and things will make sense.