It really wasn’t that long ago that the Brooklyn music scene was all the rage. Scenesters were scurrying across Bedford Avenue looking for the next Interpol or Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But as any hipster sighing over spiraling Williamsburg rents can tell you, the cutting edge is a fleeting thing.
Ever since Montreal’s Arcade Fire exploded at last year’s CMJ Music Marathon, good-natured Canada has replaced our irascible borough in the fashionable music stakes. But to show there are no hard feelings, three Canadian bands, all riding highly lauded recent releases, have been invited to play Celebrate Brooklyn this Saturday. The show is part of a “Canada in New York” push by the Consul General of Canada that also includes concerts at Central Park Summer Stage and Joe’s Pub in Manhattan.
Brooklyn, however, got the best lineup.
Montreal-based Stars’ “Set Yourself on Fire” is one of this year’s most enchanting albums. The warm, dreamy pop, with charmingly exchanged vocals from Amy Milan and Torquil Campbell, features songs of romantic longing set against high school reunions and awkward taxi rides. The mannered anthems of Stars (pictured) occasionally turn political (there’s an anti-Bush rant), but on the whole, this is light, welcoming music perfect for a night at the band shell.
The Vancouver-based “supergroup” The New Pornographers also offer up a good time with catchy hooks and a friendly exchange of vocalists, including alt-country solo artist Neko Case and Destroyer’s Dan Bejar. Expect to hear something from their new album, “Twin Cinema,” to be released in August.
Toronto’s The Sadies mix genres with abandon. “Favourite Colours,” their latest release, melds country and western with psychedelia, and their live performances usually pull a few more ideas into the mix.
(If you haven’t had enough of our neighbors to the north, Montreal’s The Dears – whose frontman, Murray Lightburn, can sound remarkably like Morrissey – plays The Siren Music Festival in Coney Island July 16.)
The triple bill is June 25 at 7:30 pm at the Prospect Park band shell. Enter the park at Prospect Park West and Ninth Street. Admission is free, but a $3 donation is suggested. For more information, call (718) 855-7882 ext. 45 or visit www.celebratebrooklyn.org. All performances are rain or shine.
