CD Review – Shoot The Image – Cranes In The City

CD Review – Shoot The Image – Cranes In The City
Release Date: April 15, 2011

by Jade Sperry
JadedPhotography

In a previous January 2011 posting, I did a review of 2 songs that are on this CD as well as give background on the band and where they recorded the CD. Rather than recount that information again, I’d like to focus on the music that this band creates. Going out on a limb, I can see this band becoming as huge as Metric is right now.

CD cover for Cranes In The City. Photo courtesy of the band.

This CD is absolutely brilliant. Everything about it – from the performances by all band members, the quality of the production of every song and the mixing/mastering – is by far the best I’ve heard by any band in recent years. These songs are polished and shine like gems in the murky and vast world of Independent Music. One thing I really like about this band and the music is that they have presented music that is fully ready to go – on tour, on tv, videos, interviews – you name it. A complete package. This indicates foresight by the band during most of 2010 and it will pay off handsomely in 2011 and beyond.

Overall, the music is powerful, image-conscious, melodic, trippy and a has the tightest rhythm section that insistently invites you to get up and dance. All of the songs flow seamlessly into one another and tell a story as seen by two people who live together and watch their family, friends, and the world, go by.

The track listing is as follows:

1. Fortified
2. Loveless
3. Crane
4. Vagabond
5. Lithograph
6. Encore
7. Dior
8. Reykjavik
9. Foundations
10. Sightlines

Every song holds a story of some type – whether it’s literal or imagined – and the structure of each song is well crafted and executed which makes it sound that it easily comes together. “Reykjavik” speaks of life in a hard place and how one imagines to escape it. “Vagabond” sounds to me like a man wrestling with his preconceived notion that he “just can’t get it right”. “Loveless” seems to speak of a person wrestling internally with dark feelings that if acted upon could result in the death of one soul. “Crane” is the kind of emotional damage that one person’s secrets can affect another person that potentially could happen when the realization sets in. “Encore” evokes the mystical feeling about being a phoenix and rising from the ashes of your past. Make a clean break and move on. “Dior” is essentially about achieving your goals or dreams in an unconventional way that quite likely is against the norm. “Foundations” is could be loosely based on family/friends and their relations that don’t go so well in the past that make you come to the realization of it in the moment – and then remembering that at some future point in time. “Sightlines” sounds like a frozen picture painted on canvas which depicts someone wanting and succeeding in breaking free of whatever holds them down.

Press photo for the Toronto band Shoot The Image.

Overall, there is something here that anyone can relate in one or another. Universal translations of music can go a long way when its based on events that someone sees or experiences first hand, but also by word of mouth. Shoot The Image have a “vast” feeling about their music that is intense and I believe it’s because they have very solid and strong story-telling skills. I can’t wait for you to hear this band’s music!

This writer will be attending Shoot The Image’s CD release show in Toronto ON at Wrong Bar on April 15, 2011. Doors are at 9pm and the show starts at 10pm. I would highly recommend that you come to this show as the opening bands are The Fast Romantics and Secret Broadcast. This is going to be a fun night of awesome music and if you miss it, you’ll be the ones to say “I could’ve been there but…”.

The band have just launched their website and the link is up at the top of the article. I hope to see you at the show if you live in the Toronto area!

Video for “Lithograph”

Lithograph – Shoot The Image from Olaf Blomerus on Vimeo.