Canopy

The other day a mysterious email floated it's way into CT Indie central. A certain band named Canopy, comprised of an individual who "chooses to remain anonymous at this point," submitted his album for our perusal. You can download and listen to the demo EP for free at Canopy's Bandcamp site. Apparently Canopy does all of the instrumentation and vocals himself, so it's a one man show.

No one song on here is alike, but while it is just a few demos, there's definitely some things worth hearing. The first song, Cheated Again, is a freak-folk ballad in the style of Woods, with quavering falsetto vocals and noisy guitars. It's got an interesting Elephant 6-esque non sequitur distorted freakout in the middle, which was pretty damn cool. I found myself wanting more that sounded like this first track. The second track, Underneath, is an upbeat rocker that could kick teeth in with a live band behind it. Father's Day is just a 30 second track featuring two threadbare paternal threats as lyrics. It's funny to reduce to banality what has been shouted in many a kid's face, but the tune is missing the glue of a catchy hook. The last track Know is the strongest both lyrically and vocally, with a really bluesy, crafty melody. On all the songs, the vocals are a bit too loud, and on a song like Cheated Again it's always nice to have a little wash of reverb, or the use of a distant mic, to help blend things together. I was at least hoping for more than we hear here.

All in all I think Canopy is off to a good start, and perhaps in the future, we'll hear some really killer tunes from this guy, if he could only nail down a direction.