Fifth Hour Hero

While there's certainly no shortage of pop-tinged melodic aggressive rock bands around, there is a disproportionate number of bad ones. So when a band comes along that effortlessly fuses those elements with intelligent lyrics and passionate delivery, we have to stand up and take notice. With their official full-length debut Scattered Sentences, Montreal's Fifth Hour Hero make us do just that. The disc is a terrifically realised pop punk album that oozes energy, aggression, angst and honesty. The real twist, though, is the vocal trade-off of Olivier Maguire and Genevieve Tremblay, who split lead vocal duties on the ten tracks down the middle. His manly growl and her delicate contralto are perfect complements to each other and when coalesced in perfect harmony stand in stark contrast to the band's pulverising post-punk soundtrack — think of a slightly softer sounding Hot Water Music with Sarah McLachlan guesting on vocals. Not the most original sounding band around, but definitely one of the few who have been able to marry punk and pop without sounding contrived. Watch for a new EP later this fall and two splits ion the near future. After numerous line-up changes over the last four years, how did you know this line-up was the one? Olivier Maguire: I guess we knew when the fistfights ended in the van on tour, and when we could practice a few times a week when home. I don't think it was about being with the good musicians; it wasn't a musical thing. It was more about the right individuals. How does having a woman in the band affect your sound? I don't think that having a woman in the band affects the music directly, except that there is a feminine voice appearing in our songs, which might soften the "angry boy music" a little bit. The influence is a lot more noticeable in the way we dress and what we talk about. Evanescence has a female vocalist too, but they suck. What makes you so much better? We would never claim to be a "dramatic, dark rock band" and we are Canadians!