Animal, Vegetable or Mineral?

By Kate Jackson

Plants & Animals are a self-described post-classical rock band from Montreal. Their first full-length album, Parc Avenue (on Secret City Records), was shortlisted for the 2008 Polaris Music Prize, and this year it was nominated for the 2009 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year as well as for Best New Band. Their sound is described by some critics to be similar to such musicians as Meat Loaf and Queen, but that description is not nearly eclectic enough to truly capture the epic resonance they achieve in Parc Avenue. It would be more precise to describe them as a surreal hybrid of The Arcade Fire (Sarah Neufeld of The Arcade Fire was actually featured on this album, so no surprise there), Supertramp, Simon and Garfunkel, The New Pornographers, Roxy Music, Donovan, Fleet Foxes, Robbie Robertson’s Music for the Native Americans, with a little bit of free love and Through The Looking Glass (Carroll) thrown in for good measure. The stronger songs on the album are “New Kind of Love”, “Feedback in the Field”, and “Bye Bye Bye”. However, the album is powerful because of more than just individual songs; as a whole, the album welds magnificently and maintains a childish sense of passion and recklessness in a thoroughly refreshing manner throughout. The songs are fluid and joyous, and as a whole the album is an excellent musical and lyrical achievement. This album is certainly recommendable; it has made many critics’ lists of best albums of 2008 and has been getting increasingly positive reviews since its release. I would give it a rating of about 9 out of 10.

“Feedback In The Field”