Quest For Fire — Lights From Paradise

Indie bands like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene need to prepare themselves because this country's next big export is going to be stoner rock.

I'm sure Broken Social Scene would laugh at that while Kevin Drew fumbles for the roach in the nearby ashtray, but they don't represent the stoner rock we're talking about.

Black Mountain are already one of Canada's most well-known indie rock bands, and their new album, along with Quest For Fire's Lights For Paradise, could make Canada the stoner rock capital of the world.

What's great is that Lights From Paradise is stronger than the band's 2008 self-titled debut. It's much subtler in its attack in that it doesn't attempt to thrum your eardrums into a calm submission, but that's part of its appeal.

Most surprising is the addition of string sections on several of the record's songs. They're the very first thing you hear on opener "The Greatest Hits By God," indicating something a bit different is at work here. Tunes like "Strange Vacation" and "Psychic Seasons" are folky, and the latter might actually be Lights' best track.

Quest For Fire have done a really great job here proving that stoner rock does not have to be some kind of Kyussian monolith of loud, slow riffs. After all, since some musicians use the green stuff to help them write, it only makes sense for things the genre to be more experimental than it has been. I mean, for God's sake, just look at that album cover.

Get it from