Nadja

Their umpteenth release so far in 2009, Toronto, ON's Nadja have made a logical next step with a record of covers that admittedly explores their roots. Perhaps it's a bit unlikely for a band as solemn and impenetrable as Nadja to include a song by the Kids in the Hall or A-HA into their repertoire but for what it's worth, everything on When I See the Sun Always Shines On TV is undeniably Nadja. For the majority of the songs you can trace the influence with straight lines. My Bloody Valentine's "Only Shallow" sounds the closest to the original, as Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff decelerate the tempo and add even more thickness to the brick wall-of-sound; Swans' "No Cure For the Lonely" somehow becomes even more emotionally wrenching than Michael Gira meant it to be; and the Cure's "Faith" simply reveals just how doom-y Robert Smith was when he bottomed out into depression. Okay, so KITH's "Long Dark Twenties" is as odd as it seems and Elliott Smith's "Needle in the Hay" wasn't built for such abuse but Slayer's "Dead Skin Mask" is as baneful as you'd imagine. What's most surprising, however, is how comfortable Nadja sound in such a structured, dare I say, "pop" environment. We knew they could do Bliss Torn From Emptiness but A-HA? Looks like they've proven their point.