- Silver Siding is, in many respects, an unusual Innervisions record. Over cold, glitter-specked '80s synths, Marc Houle sings laconically on "I Don't Want To Watch You Read." "I want to do what couples do," he goes, in the sexually charged-yet-boyish style of fellow Canadian Tiga. Referencing the deadpan dandyism of electroclash as much as Gary Numan-style synth pop, "I Don't Want To Watch You Read" is a lighthearted counterpoint to the solemn Innervisions fare of recent months. (There hasn't been anything as bubbly as Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra's Too Much Information (Remixes) in 2016.)
Silver Siding is a change for Houle, too. On older tracks like "Hello Friend" and "Techno Vocals," he was playing the class clown; there's a happier medium between humour and craft here, with Houle giving more of the stage to his sinewy synth lines and arpeggios. When he lets the mood simmer, the results are strongest. Reminiscent of Sound Of Silver-era LCD Soundsystem, "Silver Siding"'s spindly melody is held up by enough harmony that it sounds simple without being threadbare.
Two remixes by The Golden Filter and Red Axes are more faithful to new wave. The former's version of "I Don't Want To Watch You Read" is a reciprocal response to Houle's first-person narrative, sung by Penelope Trappes. The original synth sequence enters a damp dub environment, which, thanks to Trappes' menacing vocal, feels deadly. Where Houle made sex seem like a knockabout, The Golden Filter render it as a last rite. Cutting the same track with guitar and acid distortion, Red Axes' remix is an enjoyable sideshow to the battle of the sexes that plays out elsewhere.
TracklistA1 I Don't Want To Watch You Read
A2 I Don't Want To Watch You Read (Golden Filter Remix)
B1 Silver Siding
B2 I Don't Want To Watch You Read (Red Axes Remix)