Go Ghetto Tiger makes its weirdness work

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      Backstage at a Puppet Show (Independent)

      One thing Go Ghetto Tiger has going for it is that it doesn’t sound like any other act on the Vancouver music scene. In fact, the trio doesn’t really sound like anyone else, anywhere. The songs are powered by synthesizer lines reminiscent of late-’90s Euro-trance and drum programming redolent of ’80s electro-industrial, but they follow standard pop-rock arrangements. Singer-bassist Marc Blaquiere is something of a vocal chameleon, but he’s at his best when he sticks to the lower end of his range.

      Backstage at a Puppet Show seems padded with unnecessary filler, such as the five instrumental interludes that serve mostly to show how many corny sounds Jason Urquhart can wrestle out of his keyboard. “Trick or Gift”, though, is a catchy pop number that would please anyone who has waited too long for a new Postal Service album. “Hell for the Soul” makes clever use of Auto-Tune and what sounds like the noise emitted by frying circuits, and “Goodbye” plays out like a dying android’s final transmission set to a glitch-hop backdrop. When everything clicks, Go Ghetto Tiger’s curious sound definitely works in its favour.

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