House of Mirrors – Fake Shark (Album REview)

During Quarantine there haven’t been very many dates on the calendar that I’ve been looking forward to, but July 10th was one of them, because it marks the day I get to start telling all my friends to go listen the new Fake Shark album! The Vancouver based electronic indie-pop band just dropped their third album “House of Mirrors” and it’s definitely worth a listen, so far it’s one of my favourite Canadian albums of the summer. We may not be able to dance in bars just yet, but this will definitely have you dancing around the house. 

The first time I saw Fake Shark, I remember thinking I have no idea who this crazy dude with the bleach blonde hair is on the stage, but I need to get this album! The stage show, the energy, the lyrics, the attitude, everything about it was just so exciting. That crazy dude on the stage turned out to be Kevvy and at the time they were going by the name Fake Shark Real Zombie. Although their sound was different than it is today, their message of embracing your inner weird and breaking the norm hasn’t changed a bit. Fake Shark’s music has always pushed the boundaries in a variety of directions with both it’s lyrics and it’s sounds and the band is constantly evolving. Take a look at some of their first tunes and you’ll immediately see what I mean! “House of Mirrors” is no exception, it clocks in at just under 20 minutes and the amount of incredible sonic textures, lyrical elements and musical stylings that are crammed into those seven songs is mind blowing.

“Our album House of Mirrors is mainly about your inner turmoil coming to the surface because everywhere you look you see yourself and the things that you should probably address about yourself. I wrote a good portion of it in downtown Los Angeles.” – Kevvy

The album starts off with the single Superstitious Thing, which sets a great tone for the album and will definitely get your feet moving! It’s super catchy, super groovy and comes with a super weird video produced by Johnny Jansen (click below to check it out!). Who needs a dancefloor when you can put this one on through your home stereo? 

Talking about the video concept Kevvy said “it came somewhat out of necessity. We had these plans to do these elaborate dance videos, but had to change direction because we’re in isolation. I called Johnny Jansen, who’s a brilliant award winning director for videos, such as Said the Whale – Unamerican to see if he had any ideas, and I sent him the song. He called me back all excited and explained the idea and I laughed my head off. He had me film my mouth from different directions to fit on the faces off all this stock horror footage. I requested that we use clips from Night of the Living Dead because it’s my favourite horror anthology. When I first saw the video with my mouth on a bat, I fell out of my chair laughing.”

Although I love the whole album, the second track Bad Chemistry might just be my favourite. Things start to get psychedelic here and I’m pretty sure that’s a theramin I hear! The song exudes a crazy type of manic energy that I feel like you can only find in Fake Shark songs.

 L-ectric Touch sounds like the perfect mixture of 80’s style synth pop and Fake Sharks 2020 sound and antics. I don’t know they nail that combo of sounding retro and futuristic at the same time so well, but they did! At this point in the album you realize that you have no idea what direction the next song is going to be going, but it’s going to be good. The vocal layering on this album are incredible, and this song really emphasizes that. 

Love The Thought of You calms things back down for a song, and really brings that groove back in. 

Something’s Gotta Give gives off some awesome Mother Mother vibes.  Living in Toronto it’s not often I get jealous of other Canadian cities, but when I do it’s usually because of Vancouver’s kick ass music scene. If you sat down at any point throughout the listen, the pumping bass line on this one going to get you right back up! This one’s probably my favourite non single from the album.

I love when bands take elements from a bunch of different genres, and mash them together to make magic. I think that’s part of why I dig this album so much. After hearing a track like L-ectric touch, I bet you weren’t vocal growls, but on Killing Me, they tie them seamlessly into the indie pop track. 

Invincible is the perfect way to wrap up an epic new album. The track is the most anthemic of the bunch and once again takes thingss in a wonderful new direction. After listening to this, I think I might actually be invinceable. This one also has a video, featuring some performance shots and some big ass snakes, made by Jen and Sylvia Soska. Click below to check it out!

So if the self isolation has got you down (and even if it doesn’t) I definitely recommend giving House of Mirrors a spin. Crank it nice and loud, I’m sure the neighbours could use it at this point too. The album is now available on all major streaming platforms, you can find it on your favourite here https://smarturl.it/FSHouseOfMirrors

And to find more Fake Shark visit https://fakesharkmusic.com/