Pick of the Week #2: Rah Rah - going steady

Rah Rah going steady: a CD (that I'm pretty sure is about love and relationships, maybe with the exception of the song "F-- NAFTA") by a big sounding (I'm not sure how big they actually are) band from Regina, SK of all places.

Their press release, like press releases I get from small bands, rhymes off what other people have said about them and lists the bands they sound like: Arcade Fire, New Pornographers, Wilco, Neil Young, The Weakerthans, Broken Social Scene. Which, to me, is just kind of a list of good Canadian bands and Wilco, not necessarily a list of bands they sound like.

What do they actually sound like? Well, I'd say the Arcade Fire comparison isn't too far off - big band, they have some epic sounding songs "The Betrayal p.1" "F--- NAFTA" "I've got Faith" (which is actually a cover of Limp Bizkit's cover of "Faith"... hahaha .. kidding), they use a fair bit of strings - but something doesn't quite fit.

I mean they are like the Arcade Fire... if they were a band you could sit around and have a beer with. I think the Arcade Fire are great, but I just don't see myself sitting around with Win Butler and watching the Super Bowl, ya know. Rah Rah on the other hand, write the same kind of songs - although they are a little tinged with a little countrification - but don't have the same kind of pretentious aire... not that I dislike the Arcade Fire its just that they're a little more ... artistic.

Also, they wouldn't write lyrics like these:
"I asked myself why is she being such a bitch tonight" (Cuba/Peru)
"It is fashionable to be single/In big cities but not in small towns" (Duet for Emmy Lou...)
"F--- NAFTA and F--- doubt/F--- all you stockbrokers in the ground" (F--- NAFTA)

Also, they are responsible for - as I mentioned last week - my favourite song of the last 3/4 months:
[mp3] Rah Rah - Duet for Emmy Lou the Greivous Angel

and

[mp3] Rah Rah - The Betrayal pt.1

I(heart)music on Going Steady.
Herohill on Going Steady.

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Jen's Pick = Zunior a great on-line record store, which I think Paul from Wolves, Hawks and Kites has something to do with.