Bend Sinister — Stories Of Brothers, Tales Of Lovers

It's a little bit more than obvious that this Vancouver band are taking a few pages from the past for this album. Stories Of Brothers, Tales Of Lovers kicks off with "The News," a song sung exactly like The Beatles' "A Day In The Life." In the same song, Dan Moxon belts out the rather obvious line, "The grass is green, the sky is blue." Sure. A handful of tracks on this album mimic Elton John's flare — whether it's the guitar riffs in "The Same Things" or the uncanny similarity of piano stanzas and vocal dips in "Jimmy Brown." Bend Sinister still shine through with charisma and quality on "CT," making this trip into 1971 entirely acceptable. But halfway through, you'll be itching to shoot Almost Famous into your DVD player and proceed to air guitar it up in your living room (no Rock Band required) instead. The album is an easy listen, but it might take a few spins to step past its touchstones.

Get it from