A History Of — Action In The North Atlantic

It's usually a bad idea to judge an album by its, er, digi-pack. But in the case of A History Of, it's perfectly appropriate.

The quintet — featuring members of prominent Halifax locals Tomcat Combat, Gamma Gamma Rays and The Plan — had Action In The North Atlantic recorded by former North Of America member and one of the city's math rock forefathers, J. Lapointe.

And you get the sense that these boys are quite the vinyl archaeologists. Their jittery, jagged brand of indie rock immediately conjures up visions of the best math rock seven-inches you've never heard or remembered. For A History Of, the argyle sweaters are a little tighter, the hair is a little greasier, the zines are a little more vegan and the music is much, much louder.

Indeed, this could be 1998, and this LP would fit neatly into the backpack of any Makeoutclub.com devotee.

Accordingly, Action situates itself somewhere in the 2,000 kilometre gulf between Halifax and Washington D.C. Moments on the album recall Les Savy Fav's angular sass ("Low Level"), Q And Not U's discordant dance punk ("Strike It From The Lexicon"), or Modest Mouse's eccentricity ("National Tectonic"). Others pulsate with the urgency of a young Fugazi ("On The Make").

Add in a sprinkle of pseudo-scientific lyrics ("We can't raise the dead/with your ritual protocol/or paperback luck"), and you'd swear that this was the de facto theme song to a New Brunswick basement show — in the Maritimes or New Jersey, take your pick.

The guitars scream like power tools, everyone's shouting along at the same time, and the seamless rhythm section has your synthetic New Balances shuffling. Forget the stuffed animal backpacks and tribal tattoos — A History Of prove that there are indeed moments of the 1990s worth remembering.

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