Recently, Canada, after years of Alanis Morisette, Bryan Adams and Shania Twain, has suddenly become the ultimate go to place for good music. They've got The Acorn, Broken Social Scene/Feist, The New Pornographers... And Ten Kens. So no pressure then, when it comes to their debut album, determining whether it'll achieve the dizzyingly high standards set by their incredibly talented contemporaries, or the embarrassing skid mark made by the more dubious end of Canada's musical spectrum.Or, maybe rather boringly and predictably, it'll just fall somewhere in the middle. Not horrific, but not anything that's going to make you see god either.Album opener ‘Bearfight' gallops along nicely once it stops messing about and the vocals kick in. When the distortion kicks it it's a menacing, heavy track, but as they change back to a cleaner sound, the track starts to sound more like an indie anthem. ‘Downcome Income' also becomes an entirely different song towards the end as it fades away and then restarts double time into an unchecked instrumental.It seems that this is a recurring theme through-out the album. By the end of most tracks, the sound has morphed into something completely different that has nothing in common with the start. There's an underlying sinister feel that makes it hard to really get into this album. The jumpy, stilted nature of the tracks (particularly ‘The Alternate Biker') means they can drift over you unless you're paying good attention, otherwise the song's lasing impression is really only one of bewilderment and wondering what the hell just happened.On the flip side though, if you give Ten Kens a little love, affection, and concentration, there are some truly great moments on this album. They certainly know how to utilise the humble guitar, from gentle Spanish riffs, to big U2/The Edge like riffs, to over the top overdrive, sometimes in the same song (‘The Whore Of Revelation').Another Canadian masterpiece this is, perhaps not. But with each listen something more is uncovered with each track. It won't hit you instantly, and these certainly aren't catchy-riff laden 3 minute pop gems. But, as with other recent Canadian exports, the standard is high. 64%Ten Kens on MySpace