Plants and Animals 'Parc Avenue' ... I'm probably not going to have to call Cartman...

I've never been one for anything psychedelic, including, but not limited to, tie-dye t-shirts, acid, or hippie jam bands. In fact, I cheered for Cartman when he tried to rid South Park of its hippie epidemic. Isn't that a nice lead in...

so after hearing a few snippets of Plants and Animals With/Avec EP late last year, I was sufficiently unimpressed, or just convinced that they were some Canadian version of Phish after listening to a couple of songs. That said, I heard enough good things about the new full length Parc Avenue, and the fact that I came to learn that it was released on Secret City Records (Patrick Watson, Miracle Fortress, The Go! Team) made me realize that the album is bound to be a Polaris Prize nominee for 2008. Much like labelmate Patrick Watson's Close to Paradise, I didn't really 'get' this album at first, and while Parc Avenue wanders into hippie-jam-band territory, it stays far enough away to make it ... worth listening to if you're not on acid.

At this point I kind of feel like I've been tricked into liking a hippie-jam-band, and I'm going to wake up one morning in a tie-dyed t-shirt and have no idea where I've been for the past few days. On the other hand, every time I listen to Parc Avenue I like it a little bit more; I find the whammy bar on 'Feedback in the Field' more endearing, I find 'Guru' less aggravating, and I wouldn't be surprised if towards the end of the year if this was a top-5 album.

I'm still glad Cartman rid South Park of all the hippies.

[mp3] Good Friend
My favourite lyric of the year so far: 'It takes a good friend to say you've got your head up your ass'

[mp3] New Kind Of Love

You can pick up Plants and Animals Parc Avenue at Zunior for $8.88.