Congratulations to Duotang for a rotten bandname. I could maybe see "Duotwang" if their sound was country-inflected, or "Duostang" as a symbol of potency. But what with all the retro-Blaxploitation going on (c.f. the movie Pootie-Tang and the opening scene of Leprechaun in the Hood), Duotang sounds like demeaning product placement, like a kinky sex act with pseudo-citrus juice. Likewise, check the back cover. There's a photo of these two guys, complete with suit jackets and skinny ties, shades and smirks. The text on the right seems to confirm my suspicion that I've picked up a bad world-beat/acid-jazz fusion:

"When last we had the occasion it was happy hour and the room had yet to fill with the charged smoke of some notable crowd... they looked smashing. 'Ship shape,' I believe, is the way you put it at the time. Messrs. Slaughter and Allum acknowledged your dispatch with gracious style, raising their frosty goblets in unison as if to propose a toast to lifelong friends."

It's a wonder they have any, after all that wheedling. But there's got to be some reason this release, like the band's previous two, ripped to the top of the Canadian college radio charts, so I decide to give them a chance. As previously mentioned, Duotang are two suave lads from Winnipeg: Rod Slaughter and Sean Allum. Slaughter plays bass and sings, Allum's on drums. Slaughter adds keyboards to a lot of the songs, and they get friends to throw in some extra instrumentation, but that's it-- no guitars here, thanks. You'd never notice; half the time I was scratching my head, sure that that ultra-careful high-end bassline was being picked out on a guitar.

Take the first song, "Bitterman," for instance. It opens with a simple repeated organ chord, while the bass and drums create a slow 4/4 backbone. Slaughter's voice is great, strong and clear with a slight growl to it that recalls a less guttural Dicky Barrett from the Bosstones. Here, he rises up to a high pitch, until the tempo changes, drums beating double-time, and the band launches into a stomping rocker. The vocal sneer comes out and the lyrics don't disappoint, as Slaughter practically shouts: "When you were young you were filled with distrust and disdain for the bitter man/ How one could let themselves go was something that you'd never understand/ And then you entered a world where wealth and prestige are the only things.../ And they soon fell upon you, the disenchanted views."

These guys rock! And they actually write good lyrics! I'm knocked out, in case you can't tell. Turns out they're more straight-up mod rock than bossa-nova buffoonery. The theme here is odd, though. Instead of posturing, the lyrics address identity issues like aging, friendships taken for granted, even their own naivete as of a few years ago. "The Evidence Comes from All Directions" explodes with a rough, bouncy bassline and cymbal crashes, and Slaughter sings how "despite attempts to curb the senses/ The evidence comes from all directions/ It burns its way through the sad defenses/ I always try to keep a space/ For us to evolve in, I'm constantly solving/ The vexing points but my imagination seethes." With the Mellotron humming in the background, you wouldn't expect such gloomy introspection, but Duotang are always outlining the boundaries of their relationships. And they admit as much on "A Brief Observation with Our Dissatisfaction with Balance:" "We are precarious/ On the fulcrum's point/ Our every act elicits/ An opposite response."

So they've got a certain geometry to their songwriting, and they toss in references to Hector in Troy and Oscar Wilde. But that doesn't make for good music. Luckily, Duotang are resourceful. The trumpets on the bridge of "Notable Crowd" add a perfect swanky tone that the lyrics mock. They employ crisp, reserved piano accents on "Words of Simon," driving the groove ahead with ease. Ultimately, Slaughter and Allum keep the frame for each song simple, and switch tempos and add occasional instruments at just the right moments to avoid clutter. Unfortunately, they sometimes have the kind of "do-do-do" female backing vocals that make bands like Autoliner annoying, but other times, the backing involves Sean Allum shouting out-of-pace with Rod Slaughter, which sounds much better. You can catch musical references to the Jam and the Kinks everywhere.

"Rise and Fall of the G.Q.B.C." summarizes all that's good about Duotang. The melody is jaunty, full of crunchy bass running round with a Wurlitzer organ. Slaughter digs at his past: "It was mad-cap, and impromptu/ We needed something to belong to.../ Remember how we dressed up in our best clothes/ Singing old songs that we don't know/ Drinking cheap wine on the weekend/ We were masters of the pretense." Trumpets fill out the chorus yet again, and then back to the future: "'We'll dress the same way in ten years time!'/ But the sad thing, we were so right/ And now the old clothes just don't fit right/ Now they're too short, and they're too tight." So they fooled me-- that's what The Bright Side is all about. They deconstruct their hipster stereotype, while still punching out mod rock every bit as driving and on point as they ever have. Which in its own way is pretty hip. Tricky bastards.

-Christopher Dare