Music has always been a terrific medium in which to express social and political commentary. Often, the commentary is accompanied by compelling, catchy music. Whitehorse does it with the best of them.
I first heard Whitehorse on CBC Radio 2. The guitars had a bit of a Link Wray / Dick Dale feel to them that immediately hooked me. They were also a familiar sound that you didn’t hear a lot of, and that was refreshing. We had the opportunity to see Whitehorse live, and it was glorious. The musicianship was excellent, and the interplay between Luke Doucet & Melissa McLelland was integral to the experience. I got a kick out of the telephone handset vocal effects; not kitschy at all but a great added effect.
Panther in the Dollhouse sums up Whitehorse for me. There’s the rootsier side of things from which they came, along with a slinky sultriness and catchy melodies within the album. Is there also a little nod to Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” in “Manitoba Death Star”?
All in all, it’s an album that I can enjoy from end to end, and that reminds me that there are some important things in life that we still need to deal with.