Ducks LTD - Harm's Way (Garden Fountain Vinyl)

The cover art for each of Ducks Ltd.’s albums—which all feature a photo of a different stone municipal structure—does the music under the sleeve justice. The Toronto jangle pop duo has quickly mastered a sound that shrouds playful rebelliousness beneath a put together exterior. The band’s latest, Harm's Way, is their most realized release yet. Deceptively seedy storytelling peeks out from behind layers of jangly Telecaster strumming, warm bass flourishes, and straight ahead grooves. It’s music inspired by the weariness of modern life that somehow manages to sound straight out of early ‘80s Dunedin. - Ted Davis