If latest album More Than Any Other Day is anything to go by, Montréal’s Ought do not follow these rules. The band, shaped by the Printemps d’Erable Quebec student general strike (and following months of protest against neo-liberal austerity measures), are definitely not ignorant. However, their music possesses an exuberant earnesty which is maybe at odds with their roots.

And it is this that makes Ought stand out as a band – it would be all too easy for a group interested in/affected by political issues to become an angry protest outfit, but instead they channel things into a much more positve energy. ‘Today, More Than Any Other Day’ opens slowly but builds up into a jubilant celebration of life. I’ll quote at length so you get the idea:

‘Well today, more than any other day, I am excited for the milk of human kindness.
And today, more than any other day, I am excited to go grocery shoppping.
And today, more than any other day I am prepared to make a decision between 2% and whole milk.
And today, more than any other day, I look into the eyes of the old man across from me on the train and say “Hey! Everything is going to be okay!”’

‘The Weather Song’ (listen below) is similarly buoyant: a messy slice of rock ‘n roll with a chorus that would make it a summer radio-hit in any just society. Other songs are more experimental in sound and across the album the band explore different styles, never dwelling on any one too long. Attempts to nail down clear comparisons are difficult. Sure, you could cite Pavement, Sonic Youth, Cap’n Jazz, Gang of Four, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, etc. etc., but as soon as you pin down an influence for one part of the album, it moves in a different direction, leaving you chasing after it, breathless and delighted.

More Than Any Other Day is to be released by Constellation Records on 29th April, and you can pre-order it here.

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