Plants and Animals

Montreal sort of hit a prosperous high early last year and then all of a sudden the focus on Canadian music — both internally and externally — shifted nationwide, spreading everywhere from Brantford to Edmonton to Halifax again. But thanks to burgeoning indie labels like Secret City, Montreal is still the celebrated epicentre for new talent. Introducing talents like Patrick Watson and Miracle Fortress (not to mention signing the Go! Team for a Canadian release), in one year it has already established itself as a premiere Canadian label. Meet the newest signing, Plants and Animals, who practice the fine art of "healing” with their own spin on "easy listening” (or so their MySpace page jokes). But as this track from their forthcoming album, Parc Avenue reveals, their kidding isn’t far off. The first third is ambient country, as the guitar slides and rolls off fingers, the vocals soothe like they belong in a spa and the drums delicately keep time. But then everything comes crashing down, and the volume intensifies: the guitar starts to "jam,” the piano is hammered, the strings sob uncontrollably and the drums clobber — it’s like a sucker punch to the windpipe that feels great. And then for the final third, they cue the flowery love-in coda to ease in the end. Powerful yet gentle, profound yet unpretentious, this is the kind of stuff that can make people cry and fist pump at the same time.



Check out Plants and Animals on select dates of Exclaim!'s Wood, Wires & Whisky Tour. For more details visit our tour minisite at www.exclaim.ca/grantswhiskytour