The Telepathic Butterflies

From the first track, the bouncing and joyous 'All Very Hoopla,' to the last, the duo of Jacques Dubois on drums and Rejean Ricard on guitars, bass, and vocals plays one nugget after the next in charming and powerful lo-fi fashion. The only downside to so many top-notch songs is that, other than the leadoff track, none of the tracks really stand out. Still, it is a very strong record and an amazing debut. You must track Nine Songs down. It is one of the best rock records of the young decade.

In early 2003 pop underground label Rainbow Quartz made it much easier to get ahold of the Telepathic Butterflies' music. They reissued Nine Songs, retitled it he Telepathic Butterflies, and added four new tracks. The four songs were recorded in 2002 and feature a new bass player, Eric Van Buren. The songs are marginally more hi-fidelity but not enough so to sound out of place with the original album's production. They are certainly no letdown quality-wise either. 'A Final Word' is a delightfully peppy Byrdsian romp. 'Radio Darlings' is a melodically vicious attack on bad bands ('Beautiful boys, smiling toys like the puppets on a string'). The new tracks make a great record even better. ~Tim Sendra, All Music Group