The Two Koreas

Altruists

Unfamiliar

Kevin Ritchie (CHARTattack)

12/12/2006 8:19am

Lately, post-punk's sardonic sneer has been co-opted by either boring Joy Division fetishism or non-threatening bassline bands like Franz Ferdinand and The Futureheads. Toronto's The Two Koreas' sound and aesthetic harks back to the perky and playfully political post-punk music from late '70s and early '80s, namely acts like The Prefects, Swell Maps and The Homosexuals. Although its Cold War theme feels a bit random, Altruists is refreshingly brash and cynical. It's also consistently filled with the kind of pointed, catchy and energetic melodies that would do well on a variety of thematic mix tapes (or iPod playlists or whatever). Nowadays, cynics have gone the way of cigarettes; outmoded and derided as a danger to productive society. Rock is in need of a little cocky insolence. So it's appropriate these qualities should come from a band largely made up of a bunch of music critics.