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Martin Crane and Erik Wofford are Austin’s production dream team. These two masters at Cacophony Recorders could make even a high school ska band sound good. But for as much talent as there is behind the knobs and switches on this recording, there’s just as much talent on the business side of the microphones, compliments of Praveen Ayyagari, with some help from Crane and a few others, including members of White Denim and Tacks, The Boy Disaster. After listening to album after album of new music, it’s nice to sit back, relax and tap my foot along to Canopy’s first offering, a short, 5-song, laid-back (in a good way) EP called Canopy/Anopy.
The EP opens with clicks, hi-hat, toms, and Ayyagari’s airy vocals of “Neon Line,” sounding like the softer shades of Animal Collective or Grizzly Bear before melting into a chorus that layers on the reverb (which seems to have a “sublime” function). Ayyagari sings, “Life’s much harder when it hits you both ways,” trailing off into Crane’s equally compelling guitar. Ayyagri’s vocals trill in the higher register with a smooth if staccatoed lilt, following like a poppier version of Crane’s band Brazos. “Everybody Trips A Little Now And Then” brings things down to a quiet lull, with soft percussion, clean tones and slide guitars to support the soothing vocals. I’ve said before that Brazos’ official debut, A City Just As Tall, sounds like A Ghost Is Born with all the quiet parts filled out. Well, this song sounds like someone took all the louder parts out of A City Just As Tall and ended up with a mesmerizing lullaby.
Probably my favorite song on the EP comes in at track three with “Narrow Bones.” Starting with a tom beat and an acoustic guitar, the song builds with bass, vocals, and piano until it hits the chorus, where the whole range of instruments open up, and Ayyagari belts the “sing-a-long”-inviting lyrics: “when everywhere I go, I seem to lose my way�” The song probably best illustrates the appeal of Canopy: creative instrumentation, memorable lyrics, pop sensibilities and damn-near-perfect production.
The power chords that lead off “The Listener” drive the song with a steady, low rock n’ roll rhythm, and the melody is equally catchy, in the traditional sense, but horns, pianos and bells line the mix from the first chorus. Ayyagari’s pinched vocals on the song mix up the texture without losing the pop appeal. Closer “Untitled (Alley Cat)” is equally creative in its instrumentation, though the song as a whole is not quite as exciting as the rest of the EP (except the guitar solo – seriously, the guitar tones on this EP are solid gold).
Canopy/Anopy is damn near the perfect EP, not just because it’s enjoyable to listen to, but because it does all the things an EP is supposed to do: make me excited about the band. Really excited.
Mp3 from Canopy/Anopy:
Neon Lines
Websites:
www.canopytheband.com
Myspace
