This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
There are a few things I have come to love about indie-pop mascots Rheostatics over the years.
One is that they’re quintessentially Canadian: They’re smart, quirky, creative, love their country and have a skewed sense of humour — but they don’t run around pumping their fists, beating their chests or tooting their own horn.
The other is that I seldom know precisely what the hell they’re on about. Take the Etobicoke outfit’s dozenth full-length. It’s called 2067, apparently after the eventual 100th birthday of one of its members. Its artwork consists of a series of bizarre stamps. It has songs inspired by characters from WKRP and the current state of Ozzy Osbourne.
Oh sure, there are some familiar elements. Singer-guitarist Dave Bidini offers up more quietly patriotic travelogues to the Great White North like Polar Bears and Trees. His falsetto-loving compadre Martin Tielli brings forth more of his weirdness and self-loathing with tunes like The Tarleks and self-deprecating lyrics like, “Everyone hates you, you sing like a woman.” And the typically eclectic music menu bounces willy-nilly between jazz, electronica, roots and the boys’ ever-loving indie-pop — all swirled together with post-psychedelic aplomb by longtime producer pal Michael Phillip Wojewoda, now upgraded to full-fledged membership.
Not that most pepole will take notice of any of this — after 12 albums and a couple of decades on the scene, Rheostatics remain woefully ignored in their homeland even as they place their own bizarre stamp upon its culture. And what could be more Canadian than that?
You gotta love it.
