By Dave Guzda
Released March 4th on Secretly Canadian
I don't know why Montreal's Suuns have such a somber tone. Perhaps it's years of cold Canadian Winters or the disappointment of being a 'Habs' fan. Regardless, they harness it well on their sophomore release ‘Images Du Futur’ creating a slick blend of pulsating dark-synth and infectious guitar. Suuns attracted some attention with their debut release ironically entitled ‘Zeroes QC’. (Suuns were previously named Zeroes, but that's another story...) Images Du Futur shows the continued metamorphosis of the Suuns sound.
The album kicks off with the bombastic guitar heavy song ‘Powers of Ten’. Suuns vocalist Ben Shemie is at his agitated, mumbling, growly best and it sounds like brain shutdown is imminent. His repetitive "Nononono" cranks the intensity higher on top of the driving cacophony of cowbell and Joe Yarmush's churning guitar noise. What a start.
The foursome keep rocking with the next track ‘2020’ and its creepy guitar lick that sounds like an attacking U.F.O. from a 60s Sci-Fi flick. Again Shemie's unsettling whispery vocal cadence creates a dark atmosphere as his voice crawls across "touchy touchy touchy touchy". Even with strange guitar or keyboard sounds Suuns always maintain a catchy vibe. The balance between noise and melody seems near perfect on most of Images Du Futur.
After the raucous start, the song ‘Minor Work’ seems like a hard turn. The song plods along with a pulsing melody, weepy keyboard and Liam O'Neill's steady beat. The jarring guitar now sounds complimentary and working with the song.
Images Du Futur softens even further with the delicate meandering surf vibe of ‘Edie's Dream’. Suuns are in no hurry as they explore the beautiful melody as Shemie sibilates "I have a fear/ Do you know what I mean?/ These same visions". Next ‘Sunspot’ brings another intoxicating Suuns wander. It is one moment of noise followed by a long melodic soothing shoegaze-ish musical journey. It was reminiscent of some of the awesome jams by the Stone Roses.
Throughout ‘Images Du Futur’ Max Henry's modulating, transmogrifying and harmonizing sounds set the tone song to song. The track ‘Bambi’ starts with one of Max's hypnotic melodies which creates an uncomfortable tension. This tension is joined by guitar and drums then the three are blended into a strong melody as they dance across each other.
The album titled track is a curious instrumental that wouldn't be out of place in 2001: A Space Odyssey or Star Trek. It evolves into a whirling dervish of space on the verge of a supernova. The final 'image of the future' is ‘Music Won't Save You’. Shemie susurrates in sad robotic speak "I saw you there with the light in your eyes/ You were singing about something/ I hear you man see you look that way/ But music won’t save you". The words "music won't save you" fall off sharply sounding disconnected and hallow. The track builds to a lovely guitar melody which swoops in bringing a magical breath of fresh air to the song. Perhaps 'Music won't save you' but Images Du Futur’sure could.
The images of the future would appear to be very bright for Suuns. The album maintains a magnetic groove throughout whether focused on guitar or keyboard or adeptly blending them together. Shemie's dry vocal delivery gives the songs a cool brooding emotion. Images Du Futur’sounds dirty yet refined, jarring but melodic, confident and haphazard. An impressive addition to the Suuns catalog and a highly recommended listen.
