The 1999 release from this seminal Canadian indie rock band.

17 MP3 Songs in this album (50:49) !
Related styles: Rock: Math Rock, Rock: Emo, Mood: Intellectual

People who are interested in Archers of Loaf Fugazi Polvo should consider this download.


Details:
"These Songs Are Cursed is the second release from consummate Halifax indie-rockers North of America; who have a fresh and poetic take on the indie-rock paradigms of feather-and-anvil dynamics and jump cuts from straight up melodic guitar rock into atonal math-stomp. The band rocks out on more aggressive math-y tunes like "Central Port of Equal Time," while other songs, like "Extent of the Apse Outstretched," fuse the melodic interplay of Television with Fugazi's deconstruction of language, with lines like "Acquired acquainted entrammelled expired this rocket's purer line has got economy written in lights." This is an excellent and varied album well worth checking out." - BROKEN PENCIL (U.S.)

"It's only when you hear a million pale imitations do you realize how hard it is but also how totally satisfying it is to find bands like North Of America. It's almost expected that references will be apparent but rarely are they transcended and bettered, but North Of America have the talent and capability to manage that. Their songs are expansive, sprawling epics of rhythm, melody and structure, they take full advantage of every route available and seem to know exactly when to hold back and let the tension build and when to to release in a frenetic wave of abstract aggression. Songs like 'The Path' or the massive 'Soft Geometry' pull every trick, yanking your insides one way and the next, atonal clanking goes hand in hand with melancholy yet still powerful melodies. The qualities exhibited here are the same that Braid were beginning to show on their final record but hadn't yet fully formed, a bulletproof adeptness of structure coupled with an almost insulting streak of pop. Where North Of America really excell here is their fearsome, disorientating obliqueness, a Polvo-like ability to contort the essence of what you hear (see the astounding 'Built Sought Destination'), they make you sit and accept that you won't be able to cope with what they hit you with, which considering how many blatent pop hooks there are here hiding between so much dissonance, is a naughty but in the end a rewarding trick to pull. North Of America should by rights be getting all the accolades many of the bands that have appeared in Braid's wake have been collecting, this band have the ability to improve on what already exists. Just remember their name." - UNDERPOP.CO.UK (UK)