vintage

Central Meaner Street is the newest release by Toronto musician EX~PO — otherwise known as Dean Marino, producer, engineer and self-described “studiohead”. He’s worked with artists like the Born Ruffians, Amy Millan and Ruby Coast, so he certainly knows his way around the scene and the studio! Central Meaner Street is his second release, following a 2004 EP called Harsh Lenses Point Homeward.

The record features eleven poppy tracks infused with a lot of fuzzy guitar and catchy tags. On the first few listens, comparisons can be made at various points to the Flaming Lips, My Bloody Valentine, or even, sometimes, the mellower side of the Golden Dogs; while there’s some psychedelia going on, particularly when the tempo slows down, it’s really an album of tight pop songs.

My personal bias makes me lean more towards the cleaner-sounding tracks like “Burn, Burn, Burn” than the ones with added fuzz, but there really are a lot of solid songs on this album; other favourites include “Banana Republic (Reprise)” for its driving rhythm and the opening track, “Tasty Bites”. All eleven add up to an enjoyable record, and one that is worth at least a few listens.

(I’m going to let you have a listen to the aforementioned “Burn, Burn, Burn” because in it I think Marino’s voice sounds slightly like latter-day Geddy Lee — i.e. the Geddy that sings less high and screechy than he used to — and I think that’s really funny, but also totally awesome. Check it out here.)

If you aren’t checking out Neil Young or Franz Ferdinand on Thursday, December 4, you can catch EX~PO live at the Rancho Relaxo (300 College) along with William Delray with the Sexy Moving Parts and Taylor Knox & the Ishmaels.

EX~PO on MySpace
Film House Recordings