Kestrels — Primary Colours

Usually, it takes me a few listens to really get into a record. Not so with Kestrels' Primary Colours, the Halifax/Truro, N.S. band's freakishly solid debut full-length.

If you're a sucker for analog — or analog-sounding — recordings like I am, the first few deliciously distorted chords on opener "Sailed On" will dispel any initial doubts ("not another animal band name!") you may have had.

The repetition during "Our Velocity" and "The Heart Of A Lonely Storm" does grow tiresome, but the or-kestral (I made a pun!) strings at the end of "Plastic Dresses" and the wild guitar solo in the middle of "Ridicule" balance things out. The title track is an upbeat, driving song, and has a breakdown near the end that sounds like something in between R2-D2's voice and aliens hijacking a HAM radio. "Light And Sound" is a sadly sweet acoustic number that takes me back to my early teen years.

Kestrels are a band I'd be interested to see live. Although most Canadian kestrels fly south for the winter, let's hope that these ones choose to make the great white north their permanent home.