u2, david bowie, pedro the lion, pixies, guided by voices, husker du, dire straits, alan parsons, built to spill, old tom petty, the violent femmes, pavement, pink floyd, dinasaur junior
A+
Brundlefly
By the Way
(Independent)
The musical baby of Ian Somers, Brundlefly¹s sophomore disc is, quite simply, a gem. Mid-tempo progressive rock usually has a tendency to get boring over the course of 12 tracks, but when blessed with Somers¹ haunting, expressive voice, keen ear for cheeky, unusual melodies, and deftly constructed songs, it grips you in a way that the most intense rock ¹n¹ roll never can. You can hear all the obvious influences on this album, and while the admitted influence of Mercury Rev figures prominently, Somers has reinterpreted that band¹s melodic focus and made it cosier, more intimate. Somers doesn¹t corner himself in the ³alt² side of alt-pop so as to become inaccessible; an early entry, By the Way could be one of this year¹s most endearing, evocative indie discs.
Uptown Magazine (Winnipeg)
Melissa Martin
With the second demise of Grapes of Wrath, Brundlefly is now the sole torchbearer of sensitive, mello-maudlin Cancouver pop-rock. Ian Somers and his band carry the flame without burning their fingers. His fragile voice, hushed like Kevin Kane of the Grapes, frequently verges on the
point of disintegration until another wash of Mercury Rev-style organs and guitars seems to prop him up again.
The real star is Somers' voice. It's so eerily gorgeous, listeners might forget what he's singing about.
Sandra Sperounes, Edmonton Journal
