The Pink Elixir and the Fluorescent Rain Cloud

Friggin' Canadians. Every month or so, I do a big "woohoo Canada" post. Here's February's "woohoo Canada" post.
Children of the CPU is -- at first glance -- a rip-off of Ladytron. Oh, except their from Vancouver. I think they have a richer sound though, founded more in the vein of Depeche Mode. Moody is a good way to put it, I suppose. You can hear a bunch of their stuff on their New Music Canada page.
Too many bands have put exclamation marks in their name. I cannot think of any other trend that got so cliched and lame so fast. Not even the revival of "the" bands got old this fast. Next people will be naming their bands with like, footnotes and sub-titles and stuff (i.e. "Famous Falcons: the Defenders of the Known Universe" or "Rocky Ricksaw: the Forge"). But I will overlook the exclamation marks in You Say Party! We Say Die!'s case (did I, uh ... already post about these guys!?)
They are also electro-based ... but more aggressive and more like straight-up electroclash. I like handclaps though, you know. And dude, that singer sounds like Siouxsie Sioux! Listen to Clap Hands! Hot Bodies!, The Gap, and Love In the New Millenium.
An---d ... Two Hours Traffic sounds like too many other bands to me. I am feeling very frustrated right now -- I have big time band overload, and I can't place this sound! Where do those guitar plucks come from!? Where do those dry vocals come from (maybe Spoon?) ... and what about the alt-country sort of vibe? What's that from? I feel so desperately unorganized. Ugh. Anyway -- listen to a bunch of stuff the group's got up on their New Music Canada page. They're good ... very interesting combination of summery pop and Canadian uh ... "thinking man's pop" or something like that.
Awwww, shit ... Halifax represent! I am still totally dense about Canadian territories (they're not called principalities or anything, right?), but I think I know where Halifax is. In-Flight Safety is from Halifax (pick that up by now?). I would go as far to say that these guys are one of Halifax's top 100 bands ... and I'm not just talkin' this year -- I'm talking of all time. Ach -- enough ... they're a good band ... a bit like Wilco, but a bit lighter (probably not addicted to pain killers, these guys). Listen to a bunch of their stuff on the site mentioned above.