Cedar

Cedar do best what Toronto as a city seems to deliver best. They play their hearts out, delivering catchy indie rock while sticking to Pavement-inspired simplicity, opting to stay within those loose boundaries. It’s bands that courageously set those boundaries aflame that really turn heads in the overpopulated local scene. Cedar sound comfortable with their self-imposed parameters but these songs are meant for something bigger and bolder. For a debut album, Sturdy Soldier Do Your Worst does nothing wrong, it just doesn’t do anything new. "Scared” pummels through half-hearted emotions with a start/stop/start, dance-y guitar pattern, while "In The Way” is bass-heavy yet sparkles with that hint of unique poppiness they will one day fully incorporate into their bland songs. Well, hopefully. The pretty ballad that is "Get Some Sleep” is lovely and safe, in a Wintersleep-esque manner, minus Paul Murphy’s eloquent lyrical abilities. That being said, if you’ve never heard of these bands, you will enjoy the heck out of this.