Republic of Safety: Vacation

Since the evolution of Broken Social Scene, the musical communities of Toronto and Montreal have tightened, with people from both cities co-operating in different bands for new creations. The Republic of Safety has some help from Final Fantasy/Arcade Fire talent Owen Pallett as well as Gentleman Reg, but they’re only as good as the songs they guest on. Think of a cross between Sleater-Kinney and Blondie and a song like “Disposable World” immediately comes to life. Just as perky and poppy is the fun title track that gels instantly. There is urgency about the song that certainly doesn’t hurt either. Another pleaser (heck, there’s only four here) is “The Insects” which returns to what the opening song did so well. A bit more on the artsy, Patti Smith mold is “The Favorite Game”, which a maze of guitar buried deep in the mix.