We all know this familiar scenario. You’re wasted and partying with your friends and all of the sudden a really good pop-rock song comes on. And as you’re singing along, eight times out of ten there’s a part of the song where you say to everybody, “Oh wait, I love this part!” That’s what the third effort from Toronto garage innovators Tangiers is like. The band’s sound has been known to be a garden variety of hook-laden pop, garage rock and some proto-punk tendencies, but the direction that Tangiers takes on The Family Myth adds some dark baroque and a touch of twee to the stew. But it’s all good. 

“Crack Valley” is a festive ditty and “That Russian Bastard” is a moment where new wave and folk hold hands in a circle and sing. “A Hundred Feathers Weight,” which adheres to a nice blend of melancholy vibes and catchy jangle pop, proves the boys of Tangiers are well schooled in the early XTC records. Catchy foot-tappers such as “Dragging the Harbour” show Tangiers can do good by remaining rather steadfast on the deliverance of the harmonies, and “A Winter’s War” is an onslaught of jumpy pop with a wall of sound.

I wouldn’t go as far to describe this album as “worldly,” but it does contain a certain amount of mysterious appeal — and that enigma makes the album that much more captivating. The Family Myth is a curiously good time from beginning to end.

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