Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ghosts are people too, March 19, 2004
The unicorns deliver fresh pop using whatever seems available, and deliver in style. This record at first may seem a bit edgy, but after a listen or two its is pure raw pop essence, it will haunt you. An odd assortment of instruments make appearances... the loopy casio-ish keyboards and random clanking and crashing in "Ghost Mountain", the catchy Irish whistle of "Sea Ghost", or the toy like keyboards and sliding electronica in the opening of "Jellybones". The `corns have an inate ability to make the songs all sound spontaneous and unrehearsed, like in the vocal exchange of "I was Born a Unicorn" ("I write the songs / no I write the songs! / You said I'm doing it wrong / you ARE doing it wrong!!!). I cant escape the feeling that they are probably goofing on everyone in the audience at each show; indeed right through the speakers on every listener of this album. They bring a sense of humor that is dark, sarcastic, and smarmy. Death references abound; indeed the album opens with "I Don't Wanna die" and closes with "Ready to Die". With nods to Biggie Smalls and lyrics like "the death sweat suits me, a death threat provides a thrill" you get the idea. "Tuff Luff" builds up "its time to decide / we make it or we die" then slings the rhyme "hey nuclear war in a hotbed of trouble make with the penance repent on the double" and finishes "were going down, in smoke and flames" all the while backed with a cheery whistle and crisp happy drum line. If you like catchy undercooked pop, ironic and humorous, this album is a dead (cough) bang winner.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Knew I would love it from the first 30 seconds, June 13, 2004
This album is excellent start-to-finish I love it. I buy a lot of music and most of it doesn't stay in my stereo very long, but this one I have a feeling is going to be in the rotation for a long time. This isn't for people who like typical pop music, but if you love finding new bands, that have a "garage" sound you'll probably like this.
To compare them to another band is difficult but I would say the instrumentation tends to be similar to the Flaming Lips at times, I can see some Broken Social Scene and Walkmen in their too. The best way for you to tell if your going to like it is to listen to it so go to the-unicorns.com and once your in the site click on the stereo.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who Will Cut Their Hair, Indeed?, October 30, 2005
Hailing from their hometown and indie pop Mecca of Montreal, Canadian rock group the Unicorns seemed destined to forever walk the line of obscurity in the US. Started in the late nineties with the two High School friends Nicholas "Neil" Diamonds and Alden Ginger, the `Corns debut album, early 2003's Unicorns are People Too¸ was a relative smash in Canada, hitting number 29 on the charts, but it never made it over here to the US. And with their sophomore effort and American debut album, late 2003's Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?, they really don't seem to be getting any closer to achieving mainstream popularity. Not that they should have to. Nor should they try to for that matter, because "The Unicorns" second album is, quite simply put, a pop masterpiece.
Beginning with the faux amateurism of the song "I Don't Wanna Die" and ending with the abrupt cough and quick patter out of "Ready to Die," Hair walks the line between carefully paced meditation on the human inability to accept death and sunny synthesizer laden pop melodies so prevalent in today's indie rock scene. They deliver lines like "I predict: I die in a plane crash. I see it now, I die in a car on tour, and there's no one to stop this," with all of the catchy hooks you'd find in any mindless pop song on the radio. The whole album plays out like one giant ironic twist. On the outside its fresh hooks and melodic pop make The Unicorns sound like 80s revival hipsters, in the vein of Franz Ferdinand and the Strokes, but at their core they play out more like wannabe philosophers. They sound like Plato pretending a pop icon; Gandhi fronting as Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie's lead singer.) And though this comparison is a little farfetched, it isn't so out there.
Every song seems to be a deliberation on some form of human trial or suffering. The slow and haunting "Child Star" tells the tale of a washed up child actor arguing with fan about his star status. "Les Os" speaks of adultery and "moral resignation." "Inoculate the Innocuous" tells of drugs being given to cancer patients. And, of course, there's the beginning and ending songs of "I Don't Wanna Die" and "Ready to Die," the former telling of one man's inability to accept his inevitable death, and the latter him finally accepting it, ending with a cough and abrupt rip of a record needle spinning off into nothingness. One could literally spend hours dissecting the hidden meanings of the relatively nonsensical lyrics, but why would one want to? For the real fun of the album is not the overall meaning of it, it's the hooks and rhythms that pepper it all in good natured and harmlessly glorious fashion.
The synthesizer chorus of "Ghost Mountain" is a major highlight, combining the pacing of the lyrics and the solemn beat of a confused piano, as is the odd blending of a penny whistle and guitar on "Sea Ghost" and the wicked power ballad of "Jellybones." But the main attraction of the album, as well as the most accessible, is the punk-ish track "I Was Born (A Unicorn)." It is pretty much the summation of the album itself, explaining the meaning of its relatively obscure title as well the significance of the band's name itself. It explains, with an odd godlike background voiceover: "When dreaming beasts are dying down, and on out. They're there, for if we agree they're there, they're there. Alive and shorn." The song then goes on to an all out drum-tastic finale, explaining that "We're the Unicorns. We're more than horses. We're the Unicorns. And we're people too!"
Take from this what you will. The whole album's really up to interpretation, which is really what makes the experience that much more special. You can approach it as a metaphor for life and death, or just a sun laced feel good Canadian pop album. And there in lies my recommendation. Whether you're the type who likes good pop songs, you love this album. If you prefer deep, insightful ballads, you love this album. If you're a human being who doesn't mind some odd humor and catchy albeit sugar coated pop, this album is for you. It's sad to see that this band didn't have the chance to catch on here in America like their Canadian pop brethren the New Pornographers and the Arcade Fire, as they disbanded in December of 2004. Oh well, I guess it's true that the Unicorns weren't meant for this world. Now if we could only find somebody to cut their hair.
Grade: A
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