Maybe Smith - Another Murder In The Morning

By: Adam Bunch

Maybe Smith
Another Murder In The Morning

(Sir, Handsome)

SOUNDS LIKE: Phil Spector producing The Russian Futurists.

WHY/WHY NOT: Saskatchewan's Colin Skrapek (better know as Maybe Smith) makes no bones about his Phil Spector fascination. And why should he? It helped him take a major step forward on his last full-length record, Animals & Architects, using the Wall of Sound philosophy to a build a loopy, distorted backdrop for his supercatchy melodies. (Not to mention his follow up—last year's Snowmen & Scientists EP—which was built directly out of old Spector samples.)

As big a step forward as Animals & Architects was, however, it's on Another Murder In The Morning that Skrapek seems to have really hit his stride. The album is stuffed full of barnstormers like "More Blood Than Sleep (After B.C.)", "You Would Never Survive the Winters in This Province", and "The Walrus With the Gunswordaxe vs. The Big Bang Machine". And, unlike his previous efforts, they're joined by quiet, gentler tracks like "Night and Day", giving the record more variety and depth.

You can expect to see it on more than a few critics' year-end lists—and that includes mine.