sounds like: metric, the most serene republic, my first earthquake

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What’s so good?
quick, powerful, and sweet: this toronto-threesome leaves me wanting to hear more and more. from the moment i first read that they were a classically-trained trio of ottawa university students, i had a feeling that i’d be in for something of a treat. after all, one of my favorite canadian bands, the most serene republic, has a similar background. turns out i was spot on. this banging indie-pophas clanged its way out of my headphones and speakers consistently over the last week, and in the end, i just couldn’t resist sharing it .

with a brother-sister duo (jacquie and steve neville) leading the vocals (and playing bass and guitar), as well as a well-experienced liam jaeger pounding away on the drums, the balconies appear to work together seamlessly to create powerful harmonies throughout the album. this isn’t an album of stand-outs. on the contrary, the more i listen to it, the less and less i can identify the “real strong” tracks. they’re just all pretty darn strong.

the balconies self-titled debut album drops on september 15th, 2009.

The guitar riffs jangle and rock, the vocals soar and soothe the soul, and the whole package grooves and shimmies like all get-out.  One Of my favourite moments on the record is “The Slo” and its down tempo, slinky groove, provided by bassist Steve Neville, coupled with vocalist Jacquie Neville’s piercing voice.  The brother and sister are joined in the band by Liam Jaeger, completing the power-pop triangle – quickbeforeitmelts.com

elsewhere on the web:
myspace | myspace.com/thebalconies
pampelmoose review | pampelmoose.com