I’m not sure how I missed this album back in 2005 when it was released, especially considering that it’s right up my alley.  Cute girl from Montreal spitting sardonic lyrics in an innocent child-like soprano over guitar driven indie-pop.  It doesn’t get much better than that for me.  Jessie Stein essentially was(is?) the architect behind SS Cardiacs, she also happens to be the kid sister of By Divine Right’s Jose Miguel Contreras.  Self described as an ‘emotionally self indulgent lyrical cartoonist’, most of the songs on ‘Fear The Love’ were lyrically inspired by various figures that Stein met when she moved from Montreal to Toronto.  When I first heard these tracks I was taken back to 1994, high school, sitting in my room listening to Juliana Hatfield on the Reality Bites soundtrack as I doted over some unrequited crush.  Yeah, its like that.  But here’s what Jessie has to say about it:  “I don’t listen to cute bands. I don’t like Juliana Hatfield. I wasn’t there for it, so it’s kind of irrelevant at this point to go back to it – I don’t even have that nostalgia.”  Fair enough, I won’t mention it anymore.  As far as I know this is the only record SS Cardiacs ever released, however Stein has been busy fronting her new project ‘The Luyas’, and playing bass in Miracle Fortress, the brainchild of Graham Van Pelt also featuring Jordan Robson-Cramer of Sunset Rubdown (expect tracks from both very soon, even if you guys rip these tracks apart).  Apparently that’s how those canuks roll up there, in giant not-so-broken social scenes.  All up in each others business and shit, especially when that business is making records.

Age of Navigation
Noo Noo
Comme True

Buy it here:  http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com  but you may have to wait for a re-pressing.

-mark

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