The Dears- Missiles

Dears CD discography Montreal-based indie outfit the Artist' emotive take on classic U.K. indie music struggled to make an impact outside of their native Canada until the label Bella Union--run by ex-Cocteau Twin Robin Guthrie--released their second album, NO CITIES LEFT, in 2004. The album earned favorable comparisons to Blur, Joy Division, and particularly the Smiths. As a result, the band was invited to support their idol, Morrissey, on his 2006 tour. Later that year the Artist released their third album, GANG OF LOSERS, to critical acclaim. The album revealed a broadening of their sonic palette, with greater emphasis given to synthesizers and electronic textures.

The Dears - GANG OF LOSERS (2006)

With this album, Murray Lightburn continues to move away from the sparer Brit-pop that dominated his band's earliest work, emphasizing the grandeur and bombast that was always lurking in the background. On opener "Disclaimer," Lightburn calls ...    Full Descriptionout to "the Son of God," and from there he tackles capitalism ("Money Babies") and war ("Missiles"). The general feeling of unrest and upheaval is unsurprising considering that the actual recording of MISSLES was plagued by turmoil and a rejiggering of the lineup. In fact, Lightburn initially planned it as a solo record, and his emphatic, Morrissey-ish croon is still the main draw. MISSILES remains, indisputably, a Dears record, and its bigness of sound will especially please fans who were happy with where the band went on 2006's GANG OF LOSERS.

The Dears - Missiles (2008)

If the Dears sound a little deflated on this, their fourth full-length offering, they certainly have that right. The creation of Missiles coincided with (and, it has been suggested, led to) the departure of five-sevenths of the band's most steady and successful lineup thus far. And while surviving Dears (and husband and wife) Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak have since assembled a new seven-piece ensemble, the mounting list of ex-Dears on Wikipedia coupled with the Montreal act's relatively brief existence practically has these guys shifting at a Fall-like pace. Quite a feat for a band that sounds so composed on record and isn't fronted by Mark E. Smith. What's more, Missiles marks a new relationship with yet another record label-- Silverlake, California-based Dangerbird-- meaning the Dears have parted ways with Bella Union abroad and, in these parts, Arts & Crafts, a label not exactly known for artist turnover.

If the Dears sound a little deflated on this, their fourth full-length offering, they certainly have that right. The creation of Missiles coincided with (and, it has been suggested, led to) the departure of five-sevenths of the band's most steady and successful lineup thus far. And while surviving Dears (and husband and wife) Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak have since assembled a new seven-piece ensemble, the mounting list of ex-Dears on Wikipedia coupled with the Montreal act's relatively brief existence practically has these guys shifting at a Fall-like pace. Quite a feat for a band that sounds so composed on record and isn't fronted by Mark E. Smith. What's more, Missiles marks a new relationship with yet another record label-- Silverlake, California-based Dangerbird-- meaning the Dears have parted ways with Bella Union abroad and, in these parts, Arts & Crafts, a label not exactly known for artist turnover. Given all this-- plus a few reportedly less than perfect tours and a succession of breakthroughs that never quite happened-- it comes as little surprise that Lightburn and founding keyboardist Natalia Yanchak surround his keening vocals with epic constructions, as on the gorgeous, saxophone-assisted opener 'Disclaimer'..."

"This could have been a message saying that the Dears is over."