Band of the Day: UneXpect

I have been hearing about the Canadian band UneXpect for quite a while - usually in comparison to one of my favorite modern bands, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum from California. And while I can see certain similarities (both bands mix various musical styles with a metal base), ultimately, I think the two bands are quite different. UneXpect was supposed to perform at the FMPM festival in Montreal in September (which I am attending and designing their logo "mascot"), but had to bow out due to conflicting tour schedule. A shame, as they were one of the bands I most wanted to check out there.

So then... what to expect from UneXpect?

To begin with, they seem to be quite a live act, and employ tight, turning on-a-dime, genre-hopping a la Mr. Bungle. See below video to see an example live. They mix metal, with alternating female operatic vocals and male death growls, along with some jazz, gothic rock, and art rock etc. Definitely not for a "casual" music fan as the music takes several listens to get past the initial impression of pure chaos. But I think they are worth a listen, and though I favor Sleepytime Gorilla Museum as the modern example of this style (SGM are artier IMO, and I prefer their songs overall), UneXpect are an amazing modern band that are a breath of fresh air to a lot of stale "progressive" or even "alternative" music styles. The metal genre itself has been a lot more interesting as of late - with more and more bands pushing the boundaries (check out this flamenco and metal song by Diablo Swing Orchestra for an example). I hope it keeps up and spreads to other styles as well.

Read an interview with UneXpect here. Visit their myspace page here.

They will be doing a North American tour in September and October (alas no Philadelphia dates), and an European tour in late October and November. Schedule here.