What with Hot, Hot Heat, The New Pornographers, Arcade Fire and Rufus Wainwright having all played L.A. in the last week or so, I got's to thinking-- is Canada taking over the U.S. music scene, eh? The thing is they're sneaky. Long gone are the days when you could peg a Canuk rocker by the number of love ballads about moose or institutionalized health care. Here's a quick cheat sheet to that Canadian sound:
How many members are in the band? If the answer is more than 7, chances are they are Canadian. Like goose, Canadians move in big flocks. See: Arcade Fire, New Pornographers.
Is somebody playing an organ? Canadian bands often look more like orchestra's than rock bands. Sure there are American's who throw in the kitchen sink, too, but is it any wonder that Sufjan Stevens is from Michigan-- a border state. See: Rufus Wainwright, Arcade Fire.
Is that a political song? Oh sure, Madonna did "American Life", but when it comes to pointed political commentary you can dance to, the Canadians have us beat. See: All of Neon Bible, and well- all of them, actually.
Can they make L.A. audiences actually move? When I first moved to L.A. I really hated going to concerts-- because, let's face it-- L.A. crowds suck. They don't move, they sort of stand and bob their heads if they're in a good mood. Maybe it's because Angelinos don't have any experience in being in large crowds, but last week, both Arcade Fire and New Pornographers managed to inject a little bit of locomotion into the crowd- admittedly, not until they were halfway through their respective sets, but for this city, that's something.
