The Creeping Nobodies - Augurs & Auspices LP (2007)

I am inadvertently a shill for Canadian bands I guess. Or maybe it's just the Toronto scene, given that I have at least two other entries concerning bands from there. It's not so much that I favor the city over other places - in fact, having been to Toronto, I'd say I prefer the easternmost section of chilly Ontario to its metropolitan bits. And I don't think it's a difference of talent in comparison to American bands. It's just that music I've heard come out of Toronto, and Canada in general, seems to have a mind all its own - a narrow-yet-sophisticated approach that sets Canadian artists apart. Maybe? Or maybe this is all just posturing and I should get down to the subject matter.

The Creeping Nobodies were mentioned to me some time ago in passing. I neglected to look them up immediately, just as I still haven't looked into their related acts like Sick Lipstick, These United States, Martyrs and Parts Unknown. I think there was just a certain sound being thrown around in Toronto during the early 2000s. Anyway, it just so happened that I found their last full-length, Augurs & Auspices, at Amoeba for the right price. As good a time as any to check out the, let's say, complicated, Ex-like if not for the production post-punky sounds of this 2000s quartet (or quintet by this time.) Before I wrote this, I went out on a limb and predicted, having not listened to the album since I bought it, that it had a Zs feel to it. Although I wasn't completely off, especially when the Nobodies' compositions stretch out for such generous spans of time, I wasn't correct. A somewhat uneven mix of familiar no wave of new and olde (Liars, other NYC-related bands) and post-punk influences seem to make up their sound - and wouldn't you know it, they formed as a result of a tribute performance to The Fall. But what do I really think? Dissonance, uncertainty, contempt, anxiousness - these are all words that come to mind when listening to this. Most songs start off with simple ideas and jam around them for the remainder of the song, a formula that, believe me, sounds better in practice than it does on paper. If any of the namedropping in this entry hasn't spoiled your appetite for the evening, you're bound to enjoy this.

This was Deleted Art #24. Maybe it's out of print.

The Creeping Nobodies - Augurs & Auspices MediaFire