WHAT’S THE DEAL? Toronto quartet Bart proved itself impressively adept at much highly technical, hither-and-thither musical leaping-about on its 2014 debut EP, Bart by Bart. But on Bart’s recent, full-length debut, Holomew on Idée Fixe Records, the quartet’s initial, frantic rush of ideas has calmed down into a confidently smooth wash of neo-prog awesomeness rarely heard these days outside of hash-fogged late-night sessions with Pink Floyd’sMeddle and King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King. The ever-present “prog” tag isn’t a source of shame for Bart, nor would one expect it to be for a band whose sax-streaked, high-harmonious adventurism occasionally, lovingly strays into the slicker, poppier reaches of the genre spectrum broached back in the day by Supertramp and ELO. To reduce what Bart does to the level of a prog-rock throwback, however, would overlook the many, math-y twists and turns of arrangement that also situate it within the same lineage as such esteemed, brainy indie-rock outfits as Wooden Stars, Pinback, Slint and Sonic Youth.

Source: thestar August 19, 2016 15:56 UTC