Montreal Rock N' Roll revivalist Mark Sultan (The Spaceshits, Les Sexareenos, BBQ, King Khan and BBQ Show, etc) churned out this 7 inch for Sub Pop at the end of last year. Two very different sides of Sultan appear on this "double A-Side", one that is wholly expected and one that is clearly aiming for a different sound or possibly new direction in his "always evolving" career.
"Hold On" clearly leans heavily on some of the cleaner sounds that appeared on his solo album The Sultanic Verses. Sultan has been pedaling his brand of garage rock for over ten years. Fans of his work will settle into this "A-Side" with little or no effort. This hip swaying tale of woe would be perfect for an early 60s matinee idol, but ultimately handled much better in Sultan's experienced hands. Veering away from that "safe place" Sultan literally takes Joe Meek's "I Hear A New World" in a different direction than the original. Given the airy, mood inducing music he incorporates elements of dream pop more often associated with Angelo Badalementi and more recently The Raveonettes. The original features three distinct repeating vocals; lead, backing, and chipmunk repetition and canned 50s scifi space ship sounds. Instead he opts for a warbly underwater vocal and at the end of the song is a welcome burst of guitar feedback. Creatively this might not rate as genre bending but the changes are subtle enough to make this a little more Mark Sultan than Joe Meek.
Since this appears to be a one off single for Sub Pop it would be safe to assume that "Hold One" gives them what they want. Then taking a page from his own play book giving them what they might need. "I Hear a New World" experiment clearly begs, "Why not more music in this style?" Safe to say Sultan could pull it off.
