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Cousins Out on Town (Youth Club Records) Halifax, NS ::web/sounds:: |
From the sensitive-thug stylings of Jesse Locke:
Before we get into the sweet and unassuming goodness of Cousins’ slacker rock sing-a-longs, let me tell you a little bit about their ride. Rolling in style from their native Nova Scotia, the Haligonians hit the highway this fall in a magic school bus equipped with bunk beds and fueled by vegetable oil. A radical alternative to be sure, but as it turned out their max road speeds were barely enough to bring them up hills, resulting in several late arrivals at out-of-town tour stops. That’s a fitting analogy for the songwriting style of Cousin’s Aaron Mangle as well, tangling up twangy Bill Callahan-inspired rambles with a classic Doug Martsch-style falsetto, while drifting through it all with an unhurried pace. In his review of York Redoubt’s s/t LP, Aaron “canonical” Levin wrote about Halifax’s “advanced level of pop wizardry,” and there’s a similar charm to these 10 tunes.
[Levin's Note: Cousins are definitely a Level ∞ Pop-Wizard.]
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I got a quick tour of their bus when they played in Ottawa earlier this year. Definitely a sweet ride! They also put on a great show that night.
i would kiss this cousin unashamedly
write me a song is such a good song
been one of favorites since it was a folk song
[...] pop. One to watch out for! Meanwhile, Cousins have dropped down to a duo since the release of their debut, turning up the spotlight on drummer-singer Aaron Mangle’s falsetto and knocking all three tunes [...]