(photo: voir.ca)

Of all the nominated LPs for this year’s Polaris Prize, the one farthest from my circle of music is Labyrinthes by Malajube.  After listening to it closely though, I’m not quite sure why I never got on the Malajube bandwagon earlier.  Their post-rock, almost proggish, epic sounds  fit nicely alongside the rest of my music collection, and I’m not in the least put off by the fact that they sing en français rather than English.  So, on paper, it looks like Malajube and I would be a good fit, c’nest pas?  On paper, the G.I. Joe movie probably looked pretty good too, but alas, sometimes in the real world, these things don’t always work out.

There are certainly moments on Labyrinthes that I like, and like a lot.  Opener “Ursuline” is a glorious Radiohead-esque racket and the quirky “Luna” is a no-wave cabaret standard that I could listen to endlessly.    the brief, airy “Hérésie” is a nice reprieve, too, and lets the band stretch their melodic muscles.  I guess it’s the jokey, almost tongue-in-cheek sounds of”Porté Disparu” that sort of sour things for me.  I’m not a stick in the mud, you know.  I like to have fun and a good time just as much as the next graçon, but when I want a variety show, I’ll watch re-runs of Carol Burnett.  I don’t really know what the songs are about lyrically, because I’ve not been moved enough to go forth take a close look at the words, but sonically, it sounds as if Malajube are having a bit of a go with their audience.  Even the straightforward-sounding “Casablanca” has a hint of je ne c’est quoi that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  Any sense of originality goes out the window when blatant Pixies rip-off “333″ starts up, and sadly, my interest in the album goes right out with it.  Nothing truly grabs my attention until the penultimate track, “Tout-Puissant” and even then it’s only the first half of it that sounds remotely interesting.  It devolves into a pastiche of peak period Smashing Pumpkins that didn’t really turn my crank the first time around.

Ultimately, I think Labyrinthes couldn’t be a more appropriate name for an album that seems lost up its own backside.  Accomplished musicians they are, there’s no doubt about it.  I’ll give them that much.  I’d even go so far as to say that their ability to create intricate and complex musical movements is enviable.  It’s such a shame that they took a left instead of a right early on in this maze, and never actually got to the centre of what could have been a pretty excellent album.

MP3: Malajube “Ursuline”
Myspace: Malajube