ThanatoPop

Two releases of note from two St. Catharine’s, ON-based trios that matter. Both share an affinity for Superchunk and the usual indie rock suspects and an annoying habit of raising the band’s bizarro quotient by putting supposedly clever filler between some songs, but the direct comparisons slow down after that. ThanatoPop’s debut CD Four Track Mind, soars on the strength of great pop songs such as "Prime Number" and "Magic Sense of Life," which channels Guided By Voices’ raw melody and late era Tears For Fears fawning pop tones. Generally at home in the confines of a three-plus minute pop song, ThanatoPop manages to pull-off the lengthy “Left Arm Tan,” a nine-plus minute opus that builds slowly to become a minor rock and roll hurricane and recedes again. It’s a nice piece of dream-pop that includes some truly transcendent sweeping guitar solos.