On their earliest recordings (the EP
Get Bleak
and debut full-length
Modern Fiction
, both released in 2021), Toronto's
Ducks Ltd.
called heavily upon the chiming guitar sound and wistful romanticism of touchstone indie pop acts like
Felt
,
Orange Juice
, and
the Feelies
without being wholly swallowed by their influences. The band's ability to nod to these inspirations while writing songs from personalized perspectives made their albums feel less like homage and more like a continuation of the great tradition of dour bedroom-pop artistry. Their sophomore LP,
Harm's Way
, develops this individualism even further, taking the songwriting, arrangement, and production to deeper places than before. The first sweeping change comes with the production. While earlier output was self-produced and recorded at home in the band's basement studio, this time they traveled to Chicago to work with producer
Dave Vettraino
while bringing in members of
Dehd
Ratboys
Dummy
Patio
, and more for guest contributions. The sound of
is more robust than previous
Ducks
offerings, with the power pop opener "Hollowed Out" exploding with
Robyn Hitchcock
levels of melodicism and the newfound forcefulness of a
Replacements
bootleg. The speedy "The Main Thing" is similar, with a caffeinated tempo driving hooks worthy of the
Flying Nun
roster toward a chorus rich with dialed-in vocal harmonies. "Deleted Scenes" opts for heavy reverb and paisley underground wistfulness over the jumpy energy that carries most of
, but even this relatively subdued song is lively and full of dynamic guitar twists and turns. Rusty fuzz guitar and sweet string arrangements collide on final track "Heavy Bag," a perfect way to come down from an album that's often more anxiously excited than not. Echoes of bands like
the Go-Betweens
the Verlaines
, and a smattering of more obscure C-86 reference points still surface throughout the record, but
come fully into their own with a combination of heightened production values, arrangements that lean into discrete synthesizers and vocal layers, and sneakily depressive lyrics hidden in songs overflowing with brisk pop charm. ~ Fred Thomas