Bend Sinister: Selected Demos & Rarities

    Sometimes b-side albums, rare tracks, or demos are really be what they ended up; the refuse from an album, those that never made the cut or were from a different age. Yet, the Vancouver band's Selected Demos & Rarities, released January 1, 2011, a good portion of the tracks are pure Bend Sinister goodness. The vocals might be a little less edited in some places, but the synth/piano heavy style and epic progressive nature of Bend Sinister shines through. In some ways, I like a lot of these tracks more than last year's Spring Romance EP (June 2010), in which they seemed to lose some of their wild ingenuity that tested the limits of song form like an epic rock journey.
    The first three tracks were misses from their Stories of Brothers, Tales of Lovers (2008). I think they probably just did not fit in with the story telling aspect of the tracks selected for that album; the record split so well between "songs about brothers" and "tales of lovers" basically, so a track about vampires does not really fit. The fourth track is a Beatles cover, which I admit I do not know the original version of (I'm not a Beatles fan...sorry), but is really well done I'm sure and has a good kick. Tracks six-nine are also misses, but from their upcoming album I assume (yet to be announced officially in terms of date of release), according to their new bandcamp website. Anyway, the tracks that were selected are sure to be even better, and that excites me! Finally, the last five tracks are presumably older cuts, some from days past, which are more funk soul than most of their more recent work.
    What I love about Bend Sinister is that it is as close as rock bands these days get to true rock and roll, like it was when it started becoming popular in the 50s-60s-70s, without sounding like classic rock though. Also, you hear modern day influences too, especially Muse, in the vocals and the arpeggiated synth or guitar chords. Plus, Bend Sinister just has a great energy to them. Check out their entire catalog of albums, free listening, on their brand new bandcamp site here. You can hear all the way back to before they started using a singer, with the original four members. Also, with bandcamp's share options I've embedded the entire album in the player on the right hand side (at least for the month, then it will end up within this post). Enjoy just the first track "Modern Day Vampires", or keep listening. I love the second track "Lullaby".