Canasta
THE FAKEOUT, THE TEASE AND THE BREATHER
RWIM Chicago/CD Baby

24-karat quality pop.

“We are often amazed about the high quality of (especially American) cd's which are produced independently, but the somewhat dreamy orchestral pop from the Chicago band Canasta on THE FAKEOUT, THE TEASE AND THE BREATHER sounds so unbelieveably good that no major label could improve it. Five men and one woman, half of them multi-instrumentalists who play everything from guitar and trombone to violin and mellotron, Canasta creates a spick and span sound within. Besides all these instruments, a tremendous role is granted for the beautiful vocals and harmonies. The driving force of the group is without a doubt Matt Priest, who is the lead singer and wrote all the lyrics and produced this record perfectly. I also have to say that the material is first class, because if asked to compare Canasta to another band, I can only come up with a somewhat poppier version of Death Cab for Cutie, but with the same quality of songs as found on the masterpiece PLANS and at least just as beautifully produced. From the sideline, this may seem like an exaggeration, but believe me, indiepop has seldom sounded so pretty as it does on this second album from Canasta, which took five years to complete. I had a record company here, I would know.

— Eric van Domburg Scipio, Heaven (The Netherlands), August, 2010