Constantines
Tournament Of Hearts

THE REVIEW

There are albums that leave you speechless right from the first listen because they're so beautiful; others, on the other hand, from the first listen only leave an annoying sense of incompleteness and disorder. Then there are others that mix up your ideas, and track after track they confuse your mind: "Yes, so beautiful! It's been years since I've heard a guitar so captivating. Mmmmh, no, I must have been mistaken, and then this piece is a blatant plagiarism... mmmh no no... not much... But, maybe, on second thought..." Well, the latest album by the Canadians Costantines falls into the last category. The middle one. The limbo of indecision.
Paradise or hell?

Track number four: "Lizaveta". Lots of light. Paradise.
A concentric and psychedelic vortex of lysergic guitars, reverbs, echoes, and all the sixties (it feels like 1967 in particular...) oozing from the speakers. Jimi Hendrix at some points, your American dream of youth inside a boring sunny Sunday in the province and Jesus Christ at others. A fairy tale.

Track number seven: "Good Nurse". Too much heat. Hell.
It sounds like a bad song by The Police and even the vocal timbre reminds of Sting. "Mmmm more than anything, they sound like Oneida trying to cover The Fire Theft." Pretty bland.

The discussion could last an eternity and tomorrow we would still be here doing "Paradise. Hell." so it's better to stop here, as you're smart guys and you well understand how it works for this musical production. The Costantines are a good band. They play really well and furthermore, there's a trace in their music of a maniacal listening in their tender age to some very valid progressive records by Genesis like "Selling England By The Pound" and "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" which often lead their music to resemble a sort of sonic "sermon" writhing like a lengthy snake under the scorching sun. Continuous references, sonic evolutions, prog scales, and even some trumpet ("Thieves") to give a touch of blues to a concentrate of beautiful emotions and timid second thoughts. Perhaps the only way to have definitive certainty on the value of "Tournament Of Hearts" would be to go to one of their concerts and judge in person if it's "worth it or not" since I am in limbo as much as the album.
And here's the surprise: "Oh... what a coincidence... soon the guys will be in Italy for some shows
Would you look at that...!!!"