Following praise from Pitchfork and The Line of Best Fit and a slew of highly regarded singles, Toronto indie rockers Ducks Unlimited have shared their debut EP ‘Get Bleak’. Released via Madrid’s Bobo Integral records, the four tracks find the band showcasing their joyful and jangly sound.
The EP opens with the title track and this song blends Johnny Marr-esque guitar with honest lyrics about everyday life, relationships, dilemmas and disappointments: ‘You flew across an ocean to get bleak’; ‘I guess it’s predictable that I miss you’; ‘How many times will i hear you say there’s nothing for you here?’
‘Gleaming Spires’ follows with a sound that recalls bands ranging from Art Brut to Vampire Weekend and early Brendan Benson as frontman Tom McGreevy talks about uprooting his life to make things fresh and exciting while still yearning for the familiarity and comforts of his hometown: ‘There is no future here that lives up to our expectation. It’s just you and gleaming spires’. ‘Annie Forever’ is an open and honest account of an experience on psychedelics that made Tom reflect on his own behavior (‘There’s never, ever, ever any going back’) while the closing ‘Anhedonia’ again boasts an ’80s indie-pop sound – although with some added spite in Tom’s words: ‘Maybe you should fuck off entirely’; ‘Maybe you should move to the country. If you’re ever in the mood to get resentful, I’m your man’.
