The Evangelicals
There is a time and place for dancing skeletons
One of the very first “The Hell?!?” moments I had this year was watching the opening party for Quebec City’s 400th anniversary celebration. My hometown’s major downtown square was chock full of people who came to see a huge celebratory spectacle kicking off a year underlining the basic foundations of Canadian history.
So this first “The Hell?!?” moment came at some point in the show, when a bunch of skeleton-men suddenly appeared on stage to perform some sort of choreography to a latino beat. I tried as hard as I could to attach some meaning as to why dancing skeletons had anything to do with a 400 year-old North American colonial city’s history, the whole thing seeming like it belonged in a Daft Punk video rather than at this precise moment.
In contrast, I have no trouble connecting the dots of The Evangelicals’ Skeleton Man sound. It’s one part shimmering 80’s glam affair, one part Arcade Fire anguish, one part ghostly derision. As disparate and improbable it may seem, The Evs succeed in putting together a melodious, ebbing tune which begins at the threshold of insecurity, ending up deep in the throes of dementia. It’s one of the strongest tracks I’ve heard since the start of 2008, and definitely the one to which dancing skeletons would seem perfectly adequate.
MP3: The Evangelicals - Skeleton Man
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