I’d been getting email bulletins from Toronto’s Diableros for a little while now, but foolishly had never paid too close attention (in my defense – I get a lot of emails about a lot of things, and don’t pay too close attention to most of them). Thankfully head Diablero Pete Carmichael sent me a copy of their just-released debut album, You Can’t Break The Strings In Our Olympic Hearts, to show me the error of my ways.

On first listen, it all sounds a bit familiar. From the distorted, yelpy vocals through the Honey’s Dead buzz and drone (fitting since the band initially formed for a JAMC tribute show) built on psychedelic 12-string guitars and Farfisa organs to the distinctly post-punk/new wave revivalist song stylings, you’ve heard most of the pieces before, but The Diableros special blend makes it all sound fresh and unique. The fact that they graft on some killer pop hooks doesn’t hurt, either – those and the frantic energy that they infuse the album with really do make you want to move (jump around, dance, break stuff, whatever), a fact that’s touched on their cover feature in this week’s NOW. I was a little surprised to read that they share a family tree with other local faves The Airfields, though it sort of makes sense, somehow. The notion that there’s two camps in this city – the Wavelength arties and the Silver Dollar greasy rockers… it’s like the Mods of College vs the Rockers of Spadina. I’d buy tickets to that rumble. Anyway, it’s a shame that I didn’t get to The Diableros them before that 33 Hottest Bands In Canada got compiled, because I surely would have included them on my list.

Check out some tracks from Olympic Hearts, presented with the kind permission of the band:

MP3: The Diableros – “Push It To Monday”
MP3: The Diableros – “No Weight”

And there’s some more stuff at their MySpace page. The Diableros have a few shows around the GTA over the next little while including a show at the Speakeasy (formerly Rockit) on Tuesday and an opening slot for We Are Scientists and Oxford Collapse at the Horseshoe on January 14.

In Joe Pernice’s latest email dispatch, he bitches about the Toronto cold (suck it up, Joe – it’s only going to get worse) and reveals that he will away to the sunny climes of Connecticuit in January to record the next Pernice Brothers record.

The Shins’ James Mercer talks album #3 with Pitchfork.

Aimee Mann will again be on the road early next year, presumably to support The Forgotten Arm, and as such will be in Toronto on February 6 at the smaller-than-her-usual-digs Mod Club. So while more intimate is nice, it’ll probably translate to damned expensive tickets. FYI.

Pulse Of The Twin Cities talks to Low’s Alan Sparhawk about The Great Destroyer and the departure of bassist Zak Sally. I like how they conveniently cropped Sally out of all the promo pics in the article… Low are at Lee’s Palace on January 31.

np – The Mountain Goats / The Coroner’s Gambit