Do Make Say Think makes a lot of noise

By Joey Vergara

Published Feb. 27, 2007

Canada might be America's forgotten little brother in all other respects, but music is one race the Canucks have in the bag these days. Be it Broken Social Scene's astounding self-titled album or The Arcade Fire's debut, Canadian indie music is unassuming, organic and reaching a whole new level of popularity.

Toronto's Do Make Say Think is no exception. When it comes to instrumental music, this band gets down to business as well as any of its contemporaries — American or otherwise. Do Make Say Think's latest album, You, You're A History In Rust, confirms the band's place in such an elite club.

You, You're A History In Rust is a very mellow album for the band's standards. "You, You're Awesome," which could be a missing B-side by The Good Life, lolls back and forth with its creaking slide guitar. "Executioner Blues" fades into a guitar and bass duet over the sound of crickets singing their nighttime song.

"A Tender History In Rust" is pretty but does little except leave you with fruitless expectations.

But at its best, Do Make Say Think makes a lot of noise. "The Universe!" (exclamation mark duly placed) comes early in the record and leaves you wanting more of its raucous cheerfulness as the album progresses with far less intensity. Guitarists Ohad Benchetrit and Justin Small do their finest Explosions In The Sky impression, and drummers Dave Mitchell and James Payment supplement each down stroke with bravado.

If rules are meant to be broken, Do Make Say Think transgresses the most obvious of all instrumental band credos: Never, ever use vocals. Almost every time it has been tried before it has ended in failure.

Playing it smart, though, Do Make Say Think brought in the members of indie favorite Akron/Family to do the dirty work. Fortunately, things couldn't sound better. "A With Living" comes alive thanks to the melancholy four-piece harmonies of Akron/Family. The group returns to close out the album with "In Mind," in which guitars and vocals blend in fuzz-filled chaos.

Do Make Say Think, when not borrowing Akron/Family, speaks in a much different way. It utilizes a generous assortment of instruments at its disposal, which makes for an interesting record. The horns at the end of "Herstory Of Glory" highlight the band's flare for the dramatic, veiled as it might sometimes be.

You, You're A History In Rust isn't without faults. With the possible exceptions of "Executioner Blues" and "The Universe!," the songs tend to drag on. Do Make Say Think's greatest crime is not properly building upon these songs. The band throws layer upon layer on top of an original melody, but the songs falter without any surprises in the mix, and the improvisation even becomes stale. There's a difference between creating mood and repetition.

Although You, You're A History In Rust is a great introduction to Do Make Say Think, it's hard to get over the album's disjointedness. Even so, American musicians have some catching up to do.