The Vancouver natives first made a name for themselves on the U.K. Brit-pop scene of the late nineties, before returning home, but it’s only now that the five-piece has finally released The Orchid Highway. Drawing oh-so-heavily on the sweet sounds of the British Invasion and light psychedelica, the band still throws in a bit of a wry attitude not so present forty years ago.
The Orchid Highway open things up on the sunny side of life with “Sofa Surfer Girl”, some bright sixties-pop that includes a touch of wry heatstroke, though it may have been left out to bake a little too long. Along with the slightly more active, but kind of banal “Medicine Tree”, The Orchid Highway doesn’t start off on its best foot, but really picks up the quality with the more laid-back song about an even more laid-back girl, “Let’s Stay In Instead”.
Over-simplicity is a problem that plagues The Orchid Highway, hampering the more straight-up single “Next World” and hippie-rock “Ballad On Plain E”, which is saved by its more inspired verse. Things are really more interesting in the record’s second half, starting with the sly-wry storytelling of the sexy “Opiate”. There’s a little more verve to “Pop Tart Girl”, and “Tea With Shandra” pulls up some of the neo-Beatles airy relax, but The Orchid Highway is strongest at their end. Finisher “Legion Hall” is a cleverer strum style toe-tapper, while the penultimate “Time For a Change” is a catchy, up-tempo drive that is the best use of their style on the record.
Yes, The Orchid Highway is derived from the sounds of the brighter side of the sixties, but the band hasn’t gone all hippie-dippie Woodstock in their attempt to steer clear of Altamont. More of that ironic nature, and more variety, would help on their currently-in-the-works follow-up, but The Orchid Highway are on a nice path.
MP3 Stream: "Time For a Change"
– Michelle Moretti
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