Desiderata - We Are Not Convinced There Has Been Any Improvement

We seem to be posting a lot of dancey stuff as of late, so I figured I'd continue with the trend. Although I really liked seeing Desiderata when they were still active, I never really paid them the attention that they really deserved. We Are Not Convinced..., is further proof of the power isolation holds over art created in this province. Desiderata come from Fort McMurray, a cold and industrial town in Northern Alberta, a boom town that seems to house more migrant workers than permanent residents. It's not a town that a lot of touring bands are going to make stops in, and it's certainly not a town that would seem to have a blossoming independent art and music scene. At the risk of sounding like some condescending "big-city-boy" it amazes me that bands like Desiderata can grow in a town like that.

Desiderata songs move at break neck speeds. Start, stop, start, pause, breathe, start again. It's an exercise in musical hyperactivity. Not quite punk, not quite hardcore, not quite pop, but a strange beast raised on all 3, with a healthy diet of disco to boot. The vocals are spazzy and frantic with handfuls of clean hooks sprinkled throughout. The drums and bass keep the groove going really well, and the use of organ throughout the album is warmly reminiscent of dbs's Forget Everything You Know. (Fun fact: Jesse Gander of dbs fame, recorded We Are Not Convinced...).

Definitely worth checking out, especially if you've enjoyed some of the past few Kevin Rips. This album was released on Champion City Records, but I'm not too sure if any physical copies still exist.
~AB

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