Boats

If there were an actual "Sugar Mountain" in Winnipeg, MB, you'd surely find Boats docked at its foot. Singer Mat Klachefsky is blessed with a vocal delivery that out-adenoids both Daniel Smith (Danielson Famile) and Mac McCaughan (Superchunk) at their rheumiest. Fronting the junk shop orchestra of cheap-ass keyboards, glockenspiel, martial drums, drunk horns and gang vocals any kindergartener would go mental for makes for a piñata busting good time. Junior polka party anthems like "Haircuts For Everybody!!" and fantastic new wave epics like "Summercamp vs. The Fake Moustache Tree" deliver the kind of power pop overflow some cartoon band could build their career around. What keeps it from suffering from an overdose of kitsch are the chops Klachefsky's cohorts use to deliver their ecstasy. Drawing friends in bands like the Paperbacks and the Western States to the party, Boats are a super-group that might solve crimes in the off hours between gigging and nap/snack time.