Shecky Formé

Vacillating between tuneful pop and stop/start post-Slint rock, it is very difficult to imagine Calgary quartet Shecky Formé in their past incarnation as a funk band. They seem to have happily reincarnated in an interesting pop sphere featuring some very strong Black Sea-era XTC vocals. I would wager this is good late-night driving music, sparse enough at times to leave you room to think, challenging enough to explore the melodic themes occurring throughout. Standouts like "2435 Canadian Girls lead this release away from cliché country whilst satisfying my desire to hear Canadian bands reference Canada.