On the inside sleeve of the Treasure Library Canada LP is Woodpigeon’s defining sentiment: “awesome Calgary awesome.” With guest appearances from a wide-range of Calgarian musicians, Treasure Library Canada and Houndstooth Europa shows the immense amount of promise that is found in our fair city. While both discs suffer from too many songs that sound the same, there are also moments of delightful orchestral folk-pop found within.
Opener “Knock Knock” features Calgary’s own indie-babies the Neighbourhood Council, their noodling guitars adding to Foon Yap’s yawing violin. Calgary boosterism is on display in more songs– Jamie Fooks (Jane Vain and the Dark Matter), Clea Foofat (the Consonant C) and Arran Fisher (the Summerlad) play a part on the album.
These appearances, while great for the musicians, don’t seem to add much to the tracks as the mix seems to be focused on Hamilton’s cooing voice, his guitar and Yap’s violin. For a band with so many members and connections, the orchestration of the songs shouldn’t sound so similar to one another.
The Houndstooth EP isn’t that different from the main album, sadly. A couple of home demos, a remix and a few other studio songs that are perfectly serviceable– if a touch boring– pop songs. While it’s a nice touch for those who’ve already bought the special edition Treasure LP, Houndstooth doesn’t add much special to the Woodpigeon oeuvre.