Despistado

It makes infinite sense that a band from one of the coldest places in the country (Regina) is as high energy as this quartet. I mean, what better way to keep warm on a cold Saskatchewan night than by shaking some booty and working up a mean ol' sweat on the dance floor? Combining the jittering ass-wiggling retro grooves of the (International) Noise Conspiracy and the mathematical post-punk of At the Drive-In, Despistado is one of the freshest and liveliest sounding bands to come out of this, or any other, country in some time. The angular guitar shredding of Dagan Harding and Leif Thorseth are the delicious icing on the robust rhythmic layer cake baked by drummer Brenan Schwartz and bassist Joel Passmore on tracks like "Taste This Picture" and "Bubbles.” But more than musically interesting, the dual vocal attack of Harding and Passmore, who spew out stream-of-consciousness rants with an ease and intensity that recalls early Fugazi especially on the clap along groove of "Lipstick.” But the most remarkable thing about this disc is that the band has only been together for about two years but display the skilled execution of a band with a more substantial history.