Being a music geek like you, I like to talk about artists and albums in comparison to other artists and albums.  For whatever reason(s); probably just because it’s fun to connect musicians to each other (in terms of style) within a wide plateau.

I found myself coming up short on comparisons with Vancouver/Montreal group Young Galaxy.  Not because their music is ‘out-there’ – it’s not in the least.  Having not heard the band’s self-titled debut album, I sampled a few tracks and found sophomore release Invisible Republic to be a lot less languid, and has much less in common with the slow dream pop acts that you’ll see the band compared to (particularly Slowdive). On the contrary, I’m not even sure this album sounds like ‘dream pop’ at all; the vocals aren’t wispy enough and the guitars sounds more like they’re creating riffs and grooves, instead of gauzy clouds of hazy distortion that their supposed influences rode away on.

But, no matter.  Invisible Republic takes its chosen sound (whatever that is) and wears it with pride.  The guitars and arrangements are loud but not assaulting – leadoff track “Long Live the Fallen World” sits itself on some simple broken chords and a simple drumbeat, but singer Catherine McCandless makes it a genuinely exciting anthem for desperation.

Young Galaxy have two lead singers (guitarist Stephen Ramsay being the other), and they’re both effective, but McCandless comes out the real winner.  She sounds somewhat like Karen O (there, I made a comparison), but you shouldn’t expect to see her with nearly as much energy onstage.  Rather, she sounds like she’s lamenting from a high balcony, her voice fluctuating without seeming choppy.

And then there’s the surprises the band throws in to certain songs, like the way “Long Live the Fallen World” doubles its pace in the outro and adds a snappy violin.  The cozy French horns in “Pathos” would have been fine enough to carry the track, but then they add some hazy-sounding strings and some lilting vocal harmonies.  Sometimes these production flourishes combine badly with the lyrics – the overwrought vocalizing follower by an unnecessary silence near the end of “Light Years” sounds cheesy – but it’s quickly balanced out by better things – in that song’s case, more strings.

The thing that’s most admirable about Invisible Republic, though, is the way it feels busy and yet somehow conducive to relaxation.  Young Galaxy rarely get lazy with their arrangements, constantly throwing in melodic violins, synthesizer beeps and piano chords.  And even when the songwriting seems to lack, it’s usually a trick – look no further than the wonderful “Dreams”, which gives us a simple musical backing that’s pulled through with a Bowie-by-way-of-Stephin-Merritt vocal performance and comes to a spectacular finale of pizzicato strings and trebly, twilight guitars.

So, yes.  The more you listen to Invisible Republic, the more you’ll appreciate its relaxing and yet grand layers.  I’m already downloading their previous album right now to see what I’ve been missing.

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For more Young Galaxy,

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/younggalaxy