It's fashionable to be single in big cities but not in small towns.

Last night I had a dream about blogging. It was a specific record review, so I'm going to do that.

I've also been to a lot of awesome shows lately, so you might see concert reviews popping up here and there. But probably not. You know. Summertime. Lazy.

So! There's this band from Regina, goes by the name of Rah Rah. They haven't always been but has as of late turned themselves into a six-piece, rotating instrumental duties both in studio and in concert. The band's undergone a significant metamorphosis from their beginnings as a three-member event, Marshall and Erin and a favourite around this blog, Kyrie Kristmanson. Now, she's since left the band to do her own thing, I don't know the details exactly, but she does appear on the album.

Anyway, I saw them on Thursday night as part of their joint-headlining East Meets West tour with Halifax's Sleepless Nights. Now, they played apparent second-fiddle in playing before Sleepless Nights, but they put on a much better live show, the most endearing thing I've seen. Six of them up there, rotating around on drums and synthesizer and bass, with the violin player and guitarists sticking to their guns. They dressed the stage so beautifully, and in the middle of the climax of their last song-- BANG! Confetti shot out all over the crowd. But I'll go into all of that in more detail in a concert review. This is about the album!

Now, I'd never heard of the band before I saw them live. I love discoveries like this. I also love $10 CDs, and am ultra-glad I had the money on hand to make the purchase, because this is really climbing my personal rotation charts. Going Steady is, to me, the sound of basement singalongs and a little bit of heartbreak. It's little things like this that I like best about the Canadian music scene. The songs that the band has created for this album are at the same time adorable and heartbreaking, recorded by a five-piece band on a sugar high with tambourines and violins and hula hoops. Maybe you're tired of this boy-girl indie pop, but I'm not, and Rah Rah stands out from the pack, to me. You know, decide for yourself. You can find them on myspace and twitter.

I want to say more about the album. Standout tracks? Betrayal Pt. 2 is my favourite on the album, I'd say, but it's close. Duet for Emmylou and the Grievous Angel is up there, too. The whole album is fab, I say look into finding it. Duet is a real piece of work, with the vocal tradeoff and all. Erin's voice is something special, I really enjoy it maybe even too much. Kyrie makes an appearance on Winter Sun, making for another great track. This is my long-awaited return to blogging, it's not going to be perfect!

Anyway, the whole record and experience of Rah Rah is something that I don't want anybody to miss out on. More bands need their violins and keyboards to start spontaneous walking-man dance parties.

Rah Rah - Duet for Emmylou and the Grievous Angel
Rah Rah - Winter Sun
Rah Rah - Betrayal, Pt. 2

Rating: 8/10
Released: 20 September 2008