Kevin Drew: Spirit If...

Kevin Drew: Spirit If... Broken Social Scene co-founder Kevin Drew releases his first solo album featuring many member of the Scene. Expected to be the first in a series of solo releases for BSS members in the new "Broken Social Scene Presents" series. What's the difference between this album and a normal Broken Social Scene album? Not much. There is a guest list of 23, most of which are BSS members. The album sounds exactly like what you would expect of BSS. The only real difference is the all for one mentality is gone. In big letters it says "Kevin Drew", he wrote the album and employs his BSS brethren as a back up band. The baroque pop sound we've come to expect from BSS is still in tacted. The song writing is poppy and catchy, the arrangements are complex and layered to form a wall of noise, and Kevin Drew's quiet yet confident voice emerges from the chaos as it's guiding force. The thing that impresses me about Drew is his ability to create an atmosphere in which the lyrics are not important, the melody of the vocals are. In that way he's a lot like Michael Stipe of early R.E.M. days. Maybe the only thing jarring about the release is Drew's chosen subject matter. The album contains songs like "Too Beautiful to Fuck", "Fucked Up Kid", and "Gang Bang Suicide" all of which seem like far too ugly titles for such a beautiful album. Rating: 7.8/10 MP3: Kevin Drew "Fucked Up Kid"