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Young Galaxy - Shapeshifting (Paper Bag)













Prior to hearing this album, the only thing I knew about Canada's Young Galaxy was that they used to release albums on Arts & Crafts and had some tie to the Broken Social Scene collective. I never really had much of a reason to check them out, but once I started reading the press buzz around Shapeshifting, their third full-length, it was immediately added to my "must hear" list. What could suddenly make me care about a little-known indie pop band? Them deciding to work with a fantastic producer, in this case Dan Lissvik, one half of Swedish production team Studio. If you haven't heard their work, I suggest you immediately stop what you are doing and seek out either West Coast or Yearbook 1 - you'll thank me later. Studio's music, while electronically based, manages to pull in a wide swath of influences (particularly krautrock and 80s synth-pop bands) to create their own stellar sonic stew. It isn't common for their driving, dubby original songs and mixes to stretch out well into double digit running times, with not a single excess second included. Apparently Young Galaxy recorded the basic tracks before sending them over to Lissvik in Sweden who gave them a thorough reworking. As expected, he brought Studio's trademark sound to each of the tracks, but trimmed the minimal, exploratory beats down to pop single length instead of the usual monster jams. When combined with Stephen Ramsey and Catherine McCandless' near-perfect approximation of icily detached early 80s synth-pop vocals, the album turns into a cosmic wine bar from twenty-five years ago. Which, to be completely honest, ends up an acquired taste that some people may never gain. The first time I heard the record I was really disappointed that these questionable vocals were ruining such great Studio jams, but with time I learned to appreciate what they added to the equation - this is like space-age yacht-pop. Though, I would still be thrilled to hear a vocal-less version full of 10 and 12 minute Studio dub remixes.