Put the Rifle Down: Selector

I defy you to find out what you can about the ’80s reminiscent synth-pop Canadian quartet Put the Rifle Down. Their website is rather elusive, offering tidbits of information and Soundcloud music players featuring their most recent tracks, but there is no solid biography until you tap into their Myspace or Facebook pages.

Selector is their debut, and it is sure to be a preamble to a vast repertoire. On first listen, Selector sounds like a product of the ’80s. One has to remind oneself that they are indeed a recent band and they are not some gentrified super-band featuring Robert Smith, backed by members of New Order and Depeche Mode. The striking resemblances are, at times, disconcerting. Are they trying to be an ’80s band? Are they riddled in ’80s mimicry, or are they just a really cool band, harking back to the magnificent heyday of synth-pop? It’s unclear. However, even though the nostalgia is rampant throughout Selector, it comes as a welcome inclusion into the vast abyss of indie pop that resembles earlier genre styles, but never quite takes that full dive into them — I’m looking at you Passion Pit and MGMT. Put the Rifle Down isn’t afraid to bring back the late ’80s and early ’90s of indie rock, and I applaud them for it.