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Exclaim! Magazine review for The Future Called, They Want Their Sound Back "Returning with The Future Called, They Want Their Sound Back, Toronto’s Femme
Generation don’t fail to deliver the same anxious, wired fire that
was heard in their 2006 full-length debut, Brothers and Sisters, Alone
We Explode. Met with critical acclaim, it was an album that immediately
set Femme Generation apart from their peers, proving that this band are
miles ahead of any pack that’s running around out there. This follow-up
five-song EP opens with the title track and right away it’s obvious
that Femme Generation are once again going to make it easy to cut through
the crap, because this release picks up right where the band left off
and once you’ve heard it you won’t care much about what else
is out there. Tracing frenetic lines of potent, self-assured energy, The
Future Called is overflowing with unbridled verve. Muscular and punchy,
Femme Generation’s angular, unstoppable sound isn’t something
that’s about to be handed over the future too easily. We need it
right here, right now."
Exclaim! Magazine review for Brothers and Sisters, Alone We Explode "The title sums it up: there are explosives involved, and you can't avoid getting
caught up in the fiery, unpredictable expe rience. There's something about
these 11 songs that just won't quit — don't be surprised if this
album has you up and dancing within the first few minutes of opening track
'Semper Fi, Little Guy.' There are familiar textures but any influences
are overpowered by the band’s style. With driving rhythms that incorporate
haunting qualities and vocalist Bernard Kadosh commanding a style that
brims with conviction, Femme Generation weave candid and bold atmospherics
with a raw energy which is intensified by the analog recording. But in
listening to this album, there’s a sense that goes beyond sound
and lyrics. There’s sincerity and a genuine effort to move beyond
what is known and get on to what is new. Perhaps it’s the heart
of the band coming out, as the album is meant to be a mission statement
aiming for unity within a society that celebrates the individual. There
is no doubt that when a band can convey a power in their music that goes
beyond the notes and chords and drum beats, some thing good Is going on." Montreal MIRROR review for Brothers and Sisters, Alone We Explode "Following up their punchy 2004 EP, Circle Gets the Square, this Toronto foursome
deliver a molotov cocktail of feverish rhythm and fiery vocals. Recorded
in a barn, with the Fembots’ Dave McKinnon at the helm once again,
the album infuses the melancholy-streaked sparseness of no wave with urgency
and electronic frills. Disco-punk yelps, hearty hand-claps, cranked drums,
circular guitars, lonesome horns, hilarious lyrics about drugs, dictators
and child molesters and little homages to Chubby Checker and Aretha Franklin
add up to essential listening." EYE Magazine review for Brothers and Sisters, Alone We Explode "On their debut full-length, Toronto's Femme Generation throw you into Mr.
Peabody's Wayback Machine for a frenzied dance-punk tour de force through
the past century. When the gang isn't mentioning some dude named Adolph
("Adolph, We Hardly Knew Ye") or some place called Vietnam ("The
Good Life '77"), they're quoting Chubby Checker in a successful attempt
to get those kids twisting again... again ("1!2!3!4!"). As Richard
Hell-ish singer Bernard Kadosh hiccups like a cartoon drunk over jagged
guitars, frantic basslines and some badass woodblock stolen from your
Grade 6 band class, you'll be shaking off the sweat like a golden retriever
after a swim." The Toronto Star review for Brothers and Sisters, Alone We Explode "Toronto's Femme Generation handily splits itself into its two "sides":
The first half unloads a stream of flailing freak-outs whose compressed,
linear grooves find release in tongue-in-cheek quotations from Chubby
Checker ("1!2!3!4!") and George Michael, and whose twitchy instrumental
arrangements are locked down in direct, inverse proportion to frontman
Bernard Kadosh's vocal ravings. The second loosens up considerably, variously
introducing ambiguous, Liars-esque lunacy to Ray Manzarek organ grindings,
Stooge-ian drone, dub melodica and ramshackle narco-folk balladry."
NOW Magazine Circle Gets The Square for 'Best of 2004' "Fab foursome place high in the post-punk Olympics, balancing spiky, angular
guitars and loopy Atari electronics with sweetly shimmering Bloody Valentine
slow-burners. Six tracks that are all killer, no filler." EYE Magazine review for Circle Gets The Square "There's no shortage of fast and inventive indie-rock surging out of Toronto's
bars and clubs these days, but there may be a new leader of the pack in
Femme Generation. Embodying a sound somewhere between the ragged tangents
of Tangiers and the sombre robo-pulse of Uncut, Femme Generation have
emerged with a strong musical voice that's at once addictive, standardized
and timeless. The opening onslaught of 'Emergency' and the very Mudhoney
'Body Technology' get hips moving in a garage-dance vein, but the Femme's
trendy posturing doesn't overstay its welcome as the slowburning 'Broad
Cast' and bopping ballad 'Honestly, Trudy' pave the way for the climactic
Stooges-meets-Ride workout of 'Superneutral' and the shoegazing cool down
of 'Seas Like Stars.' This is the real deal." NOW Magazine review for Circle Gets The Square "Is Toronto supposed to be the new Detroit or the new Williamsburg? I can't
keep up any more. Either way, locals Femme Generation have submitted their
bid for defining a new underground Trawna sound, and it's killer. Circle
Gets The Square is literally packed with goodness, combining raw guitars
with keyboard riffs that add an Atari-style loopy electro edge and should
please those with a penchant for leg-warmers and asymmetrical haircuts.
FemBot Dave MacKinnon assists in balancing elements of a My Bloody Valentine
shoegaze aesthetic with a gritty garage edge. While there's a generous
offering of crunchy amped-up tunes that'll get you sweaty, I dig slightly
sweeter moments like the gently loping Honestly, Trudy, which is heartfelt
but not maudlin and sounds a bit like Interpol with a pulse. Rarely is
a six-song EP so fucking satisfying." Montreal MIRROR review for Circle Gets The Square "Negotiating vocal squeals and sharp hooks with sleek synths, wrap-around riffs and
snatches of exquisite singing, this is the latest Toronto act to adopt
the New York sound, and they're damn good at it. Over six songs, co-produced
by the Fembots' Dave MacKinnon, the renaissance boys of Femme Generation
quote Le Tigre, take after the likes of the Rapture, Sonic Youth and Interpol
and dip into the transatlantic pop well. Sure, their roots are showing
(few bands side-step that derivative phase), but they make a pretty sexy
walk of their baby steps." The Toronto Star review for Circle Gets The Square "While the name Femme Generation conjures misleading images of Ani DiFranco and riot grrls in frayed babydoll dresses, it actually belongs to four brooding boys from Toronto who have just unveiled an impressive calling card in the form of their debut EP, Circle Gets The Square. The jerky dance-punk rhythms and the Rapture-ous yelps of "Death to the disco! Death to the disco!" on opener "Emergency" inspire a bit of initial distrust, but the breadth of sounds covered over the next five tracks demonstrates an obvious willingness on the band's part to break with fashion and find its own path - although, interestingly, one that places it in the fine company of fellow post-punk'd Torontonians the Uncut, controller.controller and Tangiers. The latter's Richard Hell-styled spazz-outs are close kin to the delightful
"Body Technology," while the swooning "Seas Like Stars"
dissolves into a fierce maelstrom of noise that would make the My Bloody
Valentine and Yo La Tengo fans in the Uncut very happy indeed. Still,
"Honestly, Trudy" is the pop hit, an exasperated plea to a difficult
girl that sounds like the Psychedelic Furs given a beguiling bounce and
a Smiths-like jangle, and quite unlike anything else being heard in Toronto
today. Can't wait for the album." Chart Attack Magazine review for Circle Gets The Square "Co-produced with Fembots founder Dave MacKinnon, the debut EP by Toronto four-piece
Femme Generation is a robust collection, stretching its garage rock muscles
into several flexible territories. The songs muse on modern media's paranoia-making
machine, segueing from Uncut-like rock dance ("Emergency"),
to Walkmen-like organ-backed indie ("Body Technology"), and
Zen-like, Sonic Youth-style psychedelia on the seven-minute "Seas
Like Stars" in which vocalist Bernard Kadosh pays tribute to the
anemic sighs of Thurston Moore. The group even hits pop gold on "Honestly,
Trudy," a bluesy Brit-pop number that seals the deal on Femme Generation's
viciously versatile arsenal of dirty guitars, experimentation and accessibility."
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James Simons - EYE Magazine, Toronto
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Kevin Hainey - EYE Magazine, Toronto