Here we are again: it’s
Polaris Music Prize voting time. This year’s pack just might be the strongest so far. Four of these albums are totally rockin’ and one is utterly depressing, but they’re all great. Without further ado, this is how my first ballot stacks up. Stay tuned for my second ballot in a few weeks
1. Handsome Furs – Sound Kapital
In my three years as a Polaris Music Prize juror, this is my favourite album yet. Unlike any other LP in recent memory, this album gives me that same otherworldly thrill that I used to get when I was first discovered music as a teenager, and achieves what any great album should: it takes me back to the time in my life when I first heard it and helps me to make sense of where I am today. That’s some heavy, life-changing shit for an album that come out last year.
2. Apollo Ghosts – Landmark
Landmark is a little scuzzier and more punk-influenced than what Apollo Ghosts have done before, but it’s easily as charming. It doesn’t have the conceptual element that 2010’s
Mount Benson had, but the pop tunes are even better.
3. PS I Love You – Death Dreams
PS I Love You’s sophomore album is fairly consistent with 2010’s
Meet Me at the Muster Station both in terms of sound and quality. The fuzz guitar and pounding drums may sound a little huger this time, but this one won me over for
all the same reasons as its predecessor.
4. Wars – Pacey from Mighty Ducks
I recently started watching
Fringe, so this pop punk gem earns extra points for its Joshua Jackson-referencing title. But it’s the charming sense of humour and enduring melodies that earned this a place on my ballot.
5. Extra Happy Ghost!!! – Modern Horses
This
Chad VanGaalen-produced collection is as sparse and bleak as any album I heard this year, but the bummed-out melodies begin to take hold after a few listens.
