Modern Superstitions – All The Things We’ve Been Told

Toronto’s Modern Superstitions aren’t afraid to walk under the jaunty ladder of indie pop. Debut album (EP really...) All The Things We’ve Been Told contains six tracks worth of the kind of female-fronted jangle-pop that Icelandic mentalist Ida Maria, among others, has purveyed in the past. It’s solid enough stuff: bold, brash and cheerful like pinching the rosy cheek of Kate Nash’s chimney sweep. And they’re no ugly ducklings either – singer Nyssa carries a Debbie Harry poise, and a great set of pipes. Still being in their tender teenage years hopefully accounts for their failure to write more than six recordable songs, and hopefully can mount a serious defence for their track Visions of You, which shamefacedly pilfers from Come On Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners. Whether it can excuse them some of the lyrics about “becoming who we are” is another question. [PJ Meiklem]