Spin Art
2004
Sweet Confusion
About This Album
By Divine Right's fourth album, Sweet Confusion, is an interesting but ultimately very frustrating release. The Canadian quartet suffers from classic symptoms of split personality disorder. That is, for every really good song, there is a corresponding clunker. They seem torn between being a spunky power pop group in the same vein as countrymen Sloan or the Flashing Lights and being a shuddering rock machine. The little sprinkles of garage rock and blues also confuse the matter. When they stick to the melodic side of their nature, they craft some winning pop tunes, like "I Can't Do This By Myself," the percolating album opener "The Slap," and "Chinchilla Deluxe." Best of all are the singsongy "Soft Machine," which sounds like the Who if they were 15 years old in 2004 or Sloan if they wrote really dopey lyrics, and the sticky-sweet acoustic ballad turned epic "The Pearl," with guitarist Colleen Hixenbaugh providing some wonderful vocals. Why she didn't sing more on the album is a very pertinent question. By Divine Right also sound strong when they drift into dreamy indie rock territory. "Listen to My Angels" is a tough but spacy drone with some fine production work, and "Floating Away" is a lovely folk-psych ballad with a glittering arrangement.
Track List (try tracks 2,3,5,6 and 11)

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