BidiniBand — The Land Is Wild

It's kind of fitting that Dave Bidini's debut with his new band, the aptly-named BidiniBand, begins with "Desert Island Poem," a track that extols the chicanery that surrounded the Rheostatics and their tours.

It's also probably appropriate that The Land Is Wild sounds very much like a Rheostatics record, since ex-Rheos drummer Don Kerr — who's also a member of BidiniBand — produced it.

The Land Is Wild wouldn't be a Bidini record without all manner of catchy tracks with occasionally strange subject matter. The title track tells of a hockey player who falls from grace and dies tragically, while "We Like To Rock" should be an anthem for all Canadian musicians.

"Pornography" is a cheeky look at the taboo, and "Song Ain't Any Good" sees Bidini poking fun at cookie-cutter bands and "hits." A bonus track called "The List" takes aim at Tim Horton's, Chad Kroeger, Stephen Harper and Canadian Idol judge Zack Werner for "killing us now" as only Bidini can.

The Land Is Wild should rightly make you miss the Rheostatics, since it's just as good as anything that band released. The only unfortunate thing about it is you can't picture Martin Tielli writhing about on stage in all manner of strange, uncomfortable looking postures while you listen to it.

That reminds me... where is that new Tielli solo album?

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