Cuckoo Canoe, Can You?

Given the drubbing I occasionally hand out to Myspace bands or bands that email me seeking reviews, I'm a little surprised I still get those emails; but they come, and I like the opportunity they give me to think and write about music I'm not necessarily crazy about.

Cuckoo Canoe is a bit bewildering; they've got three working songs up on their Myspace, and they don't really seem to go together, although they're all rather nice. Ofrah and Me is an acoustic, drawling, strummy piece about aimless time spent with somebody called Ofrah--and in the little picture bit next to the song listings, there's a picture of Oprah. I don't know what to make of that, but as a song it's appealing. "Alaska Wolf Slay" is more usual indie-rock type stuff, with just a touch of drawl left, uptempo and well-done if not ground-breaking. "You Sunk My Battleship," on the other hand, is an initially more electronic and overall less drawling song that reminds me pretty strongly of someone more mainstream--but I'm damned if I can remember who.

Overall, I like 'em; if they were on one of the Myspace Rundowns, I'd give an A for togetherness (they sound quite professional and well-put-together for Myspace), and maybe a B or B+ for creativity.

tags: [Music], [mp3], [Myspace], [Music on Myspace]