Mon Electric Bijou

"Bullets in the Penguin" CD

Roast Records

Genre: indie rock

June 2006

Indie rock with a rootsy flair out of Montreal, what's there not to like? This is polished, melodic stuff that's very solid albeit unspectacular. "In Her Purse" and "Caveman" succeed by way of dark, infectious melodies, like a less aggressive Archers Of Loaf - particularly in the guitar. On the other hand, we have a number of ballads that Mon Electric Bijou have included; country-ish "El Shoeless Messiah" and "Surveillance Camera" represent this front, among others. Over the course of this twelve song record, the music can drag quite a bit - the songs aren't varied enough, and their sound isn't unique enough to make that irrelevant. The main problem is the album's lack of energy - by the end, you've lost some of your attention because the guitars have started to plod a little, and the vocals don't carry the type of punch one might hope for. Regardless, there is more than enough good stuff to go on here, and for an occasional, satisfying rock record, Bullets in the Penguin suffices admirably.

MP3s (from monelectricbijou.com): Paris At Night, In Her Purse, Quicksand

75%

Fun Fact: "Mon Electric Bijou" means "my electric jewel" in French, though "electric" is not a French word.

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 12 tracks, distributed by Sonic Unyon, released 2005]