After a collective breakdown brought them to the brink of breakup in late 2007, Canadian quintet You Say Party! We Say Die! are staging a triumphant return with their third album, "XXXX," which was released in the United States in February. Already, 2010 has included two quasi-hometown performances at the Vancouver Olympics, an appearance at Austin’s SXSW festival, and their first U.S. shows with a full lineup since 2006, when O’Shea was banned from the country due to visa problems the band encountered at the border.

Shortly after the group kicked off a brief U.S. tour on the West Coast earlier this month, Blast spoke with frontwoman Becky Ninkovic, who said she and her bandmates were able to channel any negative energy that remained into the songs that comprise "XXXX."

"I think when you go through difficult times with people, it can really bring you closer together, and just establish a lot more trust and faith in each other. It definitely did that for us," she said emphatically.

The group formed in 2003 when most of the members were in their early 20s, according to Ninkovic. Drummer Devon Clifford and guitarist Derek Adam are childhood best friends and attended the same high school as Ninkovic and keyboardist Krista Loewen, but the true connection came from the band members all being fixtures on the local music scene in Abbotsford, a suburb of Vancouver. Their (oft-abbreviated as YSP! WSD!) name is taken from the title of one of their first songs, which would frequently turn into a back-and-forth chant with audience members in the group’s early days, when they were still nameless and most of their gigs consisted of casual performances at friends’ apartments.

"We really liked the idea of just getting to participate with the crowd … (to) create a feeling of us all being in it together instead of just being performers separate from the audience," she explained. "We just wanted it to be like a fun party. We were just playing in our hometown, little house parties and stuff, so it was more about just creating a fun atmosphere than anything."

Though Ninkovic maintains YSP! WSD! never had aspirations to play beyond those hometown shows, the success of their first two albums — 2005′s "Hit the Floor" and 2007′s "Lose All Time" — has led them down a different path.

It was during a grueling 16-week fall/winter 2007 tour of Canada and Europe that the tension that was building within the group came to a head. Afterwards, the band took some much-needed time off to re-evaluate, Ninkovic said.

"I think some of us definitely felt like that was gonna be the end," she admitted. "I know for me, I was definitely at the bottom, and unable to see how we could continue. But, fortunately, some of us were able to see how it could work. … And then, eventually, I began to see a lot more light and hope and future."

"There was a lot of recovery time needed after that tour, and through that process, I think we really discovered a new love for ourselves, each other, and the music, and just what we were in together," she added. "That was really what pulled us together. When we started writing, it just naturally began to come out in the songwriting process. So, we could all feel it, and we just kind of loved the magic that was happening, and just really wanted to capture that. (Producer) Howard (Redekopp) was amazing at being able to really tap into that energy."

The songs on "XXXX" contain elements of everything from blues to disco, but Ninkovic says the band, more so than on its previous records, was honing in on a sound that echoed 1980s New Wave and punk and early ‘90s dance in particular. She credits Redekopp, whose previous producing credits include fellow Canucks The New Pornographers and Tegan & Sara, for bringing their sonic vision to fruition.

"(Redekopp) really understood that aesthetic that we all love so much," she gushed. "We had so much more time to really focus on this album. We really had a lot of time to connect with Howard and just communicate all of our hopes and dreams for how we wanted it to sound, and really take the time to really give each song what it needed. In that way, it just became more of an accomplishment for us."

The album’s leadoff track in particular, "There is Xxxx (Within My Heart)," bears a striking resemblance to the 1993 dance hit "Show Me Love" by Robin S. Ninkovic readily acknowledged the similarity, but says it was entirely unintentional. She laughingly recalled her jaw dropping when Adam played her the Robin S. track in comparison to her own.

"My hope for that song was that it would kind of play on, like, dance mix ‘90s," she said, laughing. "I kind of had that era in the back of my mind, writing that song. I really wanted it to kind of have that feel to it. And when he found the song later, like after we’d already recorded it and everything, I was like, oh my God, amazing. It’s finally happened. I knew one of these days there’d be some subconscious leaking coming out."

As for the "X" motif in the title of the album itself and several songs, it was Ninkovic herself who came up with it, when she was creating artwork for the group’s first EP in 2004.

"I cut out these four paper Xs that I glued onto the artwork," she recalled. "At that time, I remember thinking L-O-V-E, X-X-X-X. And … when this album was coming together, there was this very obvious energy of love coming through. We were really wanting to honor that, but in a way that wasn’t going to be too blatantly obvious or clich©, as many sentiments to do with love often come across sounding. We were talking about it, and I remembered about the four Xs and how it was like my little secret code for love. And everybody really felt a connection with that."

YSP! WSD!’s renewed harmony and mutual respect also came through in the writing process, according to Ninkovic.

"We each write our own individual parts, but … we’ve been learning in the last year or so to try to kind of honor each other’s ideas and vision, and to be more flexible with each other," she said. "It’s always a learning process. And I think we definitely found that for this album. I think we just had a lot more openness towards each other, just in our own personal relationships, just in our hearts towards each other. So, coming into the writing room with that attitude just made the creative process so much more liberating."

Call it a comeback; call it a fresh start. Whatever the terminology, it’s clear that You Say Party! We Say Die! are embracing a new philosophy of dwelling on the future rather than the past.

"It feels really good to be back, and we worked so hard to get here," she said. "We’re very happy."

YSP! WSD! tour dates:

March 23                        Charlotte, NC                        Snug Harbour

March 24                        Baltimore, MD            Ottobar

March 26                        New York, NY            Knitting Factory

March 27                        Boston, MA                        TT the Bears

March 29                        New York, NY            Piano’s

March 30                        Detroit, MI                        Pike Room

March 31                        Chicago, IL                        Empty Bottle

Though indie pop sisters Tegan and Sara Quin are known for their witty back-and-forth stage banter, it might be fair to say that during their last U.S. tour, in support of 2007′s "The Con," some of their concert humor may have been a little, well … forced.

"With ‘The Con,’ everybody knew it was a breakup record … and it was so intense to play live," according to Tegan, who recently spoke to Blast about her and Sara’s latest offering, "Sainthood." "It would dredge up all of my feelings again. … Sometimes after (the shows) I would just like, come backstage and … feel like slitting my wrists."

But this time around, as the Canadian crooners prepare to kick off their U.S. tour behind "Sainthood" with shows in Northampton on Thursday and Boston on Friday, things are looking up.

Even as they began pre-production for "Sainthood," which was released in October, both sisters were "in happier places" than they were on the previous record — Tegan finally won over the girl about whom much of "The Con" was written; the two are still dating — and that had an impact on their songwriting, she said. Even now, nearly four months after the record was released, the songs have less baggage attached, according to Tegan.

"The Con’ was such an emotional record," she said. "I thought ‘Sainthood’ was going to become more like that, and it’s not. … I feel like ‘Sainthood’ is different in that sense, and people are relating to it differently."

There are technical distinctions between the two as well. Though Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla was enlisted to produce both albums, for "The Con," Tegan and Sara recruited session musicians to flesh out the songs, including AFI’s Hunter Burgan and Weezer’s Matt Sharp splitting bass duties, and Walla’s Death Cab bandmate Jason McGerr on drums. With "Sainthood," the same core five band members played on each song — Tegan and Sara, plus Ted Gowans (guitar/keyboards), McGerr (drums) and Walla on bass.

"I think the major difference (between the two records) was just the consistency," Tegan explained. "With ‘The Con,’ it was kind of like two different bands. … I think it gave ‘Sainthood’ a really consistent sound, and it also, I think, sounds more like our band live."

Likewise, with "The Con," Sara and Tegan famously tracked drums, bass and keyboards in addition to their guitar and vocal parts before handing the demos off to Walla — resulting in near-complete versions of each song. On "Sainthood," the songwriting and recording was more of a collective process, Tegan said.

"We approached writing on ‘Sainthood’ a little differently. We didn’t do as much recording beforehand," she said. "We really tried to approach this record more like a band record, standing in a room, the five of us, playing together, seeing what came out of that. … We would (play) a song … you know, 40 times, and then took our favorite tracks."

The more straightforward approach yielded a fuller band sound (at the suggestion of Walla) and was another change of pace from "The Con," whose overdub-heavy tracks proved challenging to translate on stage.

"When (Walla) recorded ‘The Con’ with us, he’d never even seen us live," Quin explained. "(After we subsequently toured together) he was like, ‘You guys are a great live band. We should try to make a record that sounds like that.’ … Getting this record ready to play live was pretty easy because we’d already played the songs a hundred times."

Also the result of taking into account their live performances is one of the first things longtime fans may notice about "Sainthood"  — the absence of any acoustic ballads, which figure prominently in previous Tegan & Sara recordings. But, though Tegan described "Sainthood" as their "full-throttle affair," she was quick to point out that’s not indicative of a change in their approach to songwriting.

"I wrote tons of acoustic songs and ballads for this record," she said. "(But) songs like ‘On Directing’ and ‘Alligator’ and ‘Hell’ and ‘Don’t Rush’ and ‘The Cure’ … kind of stood out right away. And, as we were all gravitating towards those songs, I realized that this was going to be a much more aggressive record than our past records had been. … Our audiences are getting really big. We’re playing a lot of big theaters and big clubs, and the acoustic kind of quiet stuff isn’t as easy to do live. So we just kind of moved in that direction."

"But," she added, "having moved in that direction now for two records, I have to say that … I don’t know if we’ll make an acoustic record again completely, but I’m definitely getting that itch."

That "itch" resulted in a recently-announced show in Brooklyn on Feb. 15, which has been dubbed "A Very Special Evening With Tegan & Sara" and promises an intimate, stripped-down performance for less than 400 fans. The setting will likely be reminiscent of some of the twins’ first shows together more than a decade ago.

As the 29-year-olds approach their 12-year anniversary of making music together professionally, they’re eager to impart lessons they’ve learned along the way, and have recently taken on behind-the-scenes supporting roles in other musicians’ careers.

In between "The Con" and "Sainthood," Tegan produced Vancouver singer CHAR2D2′s debut EP, while Sara did A&R work for Australian duo (and frequent Tegan & Sara touring partners) An Horse, and is currently overseeing production of the first solo offering from Northern State’s Hesta Prynn.

"For the last 10 years, (we’ve) been really highly involved in the business of our band," Tegan pointed out. "And that basic day-to-day stuff has really helped us when we started to work with other bands, for sure. I mean, projects like CHAR2D2 or An Horse, I’m sure that (they) would have gotten off the ground without our help, but I think having us there pushing them on the sidelines, you know, giving them feedback, helping them connect the dots … helps move (them) forward faster."

"I think both of us are really interested in helping artists, especially female artists in our business, because especially in indie rock and the alternative scene, there’s less support for women," she added. "There’s more than there was 10 years ago, but I think it’s still kind of a pet project for Sara and I."

They’ll also team up with a slew of female artists this summer, having signed on to appear on some dates of the much-hyped reincarnation of the Lilith Fair.

"We’re really excited about it," Tegan said. "As a rock band, an alternative rock band that’s been playing for 10 years, you know, 99 percent of the time when we play festivals, we are one of three female acts. And that’s sometimes with, like, 30 bands. So, to have a whole festival designed to appeal to women … I think it’s really amazing."

But while the Quins may be staunch feminists and outspoken advocates for LGBT equality, Tegan said she doesn’t feel that political subjects have a place in their music.

"My God, if we put out a political record, people would be running from us, and I know that," Tegan noted. "I don’t feel inspired to write about politics or religion or sexuality or gender. I feel inspired to talk about those things, and I feel inspired to fundraise for those things, and I feel inspired to educate myself about those things. But I’ve never felt like sitting down and writing a song about it … because I’m not sure that I’ll be reaching anyone new. I’ll just be preaching to the converted, you know?"

That (and the fact that she and Sara are Canadian) didn’t stop them from publicly supporting Barack Obama and speaking out against (ultimately successful) Proposition 8 campaign to ban gay marriage in California during their U.S. tour last fall.

"We try to infuse politics into our Web site, into our fundraising campaigns, and into our live show, in a way that’s subtle and not offensive," she said. "But I don’t know that I need to write a song about it. … Maybe that’ll come with age. I know every musician goes through that phase where they write their political record. So maybe I will. I just feel like when I’m singing, I need to sing about love."

And sing about love she does — as well as all the heartbreaks that come with it. While "Sainthood" is not as much of an emotional bulldozer as "The Con," it’s still ripe with the lovesick "torch songs" the Quins are known for.

"Sara and I both really, really got into pop music … last year," Tegan said. "You saw a lot of men in music last year, especially in hip-hop, talking about their failures. Like, it (had) less machismo. … Where songs like (Sara’s) ‘Sentimental Tune’ and ‘Alligator’ came from was the sentimental kind of vibe that was behind pop music last year."

"My songs on this record, it was really easy to pick out which ones were going to make it," she explained. "Like, I wrote ‘Someday’ and ‘The Ocean’ and ‘Northshore’ when I was feeling really depressed, and that’s why those three songs made it on the record. Pretty much every other song I wrote (that didn’t make) this record, I was really happy. And ‘Hell’ and ‘Don’t Rush’ and ‘The Cure’ I wrote during the ‘Con’ time, so I was really depressed then, too."

Sensing a pattern? You’re not alone.

"When I’m depressed, I write so much more, and my songs are better. I admit it, too," Tegan acknowledged matter-of-factly. "If I’m not feeling introspective and sad, it’s hard for me to write. … Which isn’t to say that I have to be in a bad place to write. It just means I have to be able to tap into that. And right now, I don’t feel able to tap into that at all. So, I haven’t written a song in … it’s been a long time. And I feel bad about that."

"Maybe I’ll start writing songs about how sad I feel about not being sad," she quipped.

But although she’s grateful that onstage performances no longer leave her feeling like a wreck, Tegan — who was in good spirits but perceptibly exhausted when we spoke in mid-January during the band’s Canadian tour — admitted that the physical and technical challenges of playing "Sainthood" live compensate for the lesser heartache.

"Emotionally, there’s only a few songs on the record that get me really riled up. … which is a relief, because we’re still playing nine songs off ‘The Con’ live, and I still feel sad when I play those songs," she said, laughing. "(But ‘Sainthood’) is very difficult artistically for me. Like, the parts that I wrote, and the harmonies, and the pacing and just the intensity of it, it’s challenging me as a musician. … I feel exhausted. It’s just such an extensive, intense, fast record. And I think it’s making us a really good band."

"We’re playing two hours every night and my throat is hoarse and I’m tired and my stomach feels sore every night from singing back-to-back songs," she went on. "But yeah, a few months out, I’m really happy with ‘Sainthood.’ I love how it sounds live. I love playing the songs live. … I don’t feel like slitting my wrists when I get off stage. … Instead of feeling depressed and sad, I start to feel really inspired and empowered."

Tegan & Sara U.S. Tour Dates:

Feb. 12          Northampton “Calvin Theatre*

Feb. 13          Boston “The Orpheum*

Feb. 15          Brooklyn “Music Hall of Williamsburg

Feb. 16          Upper Darby, PA          Tower Theatre*

Feb. 17          Washington, D.C.          Warner Theatre*

Feb. 18          Richmond, VA          The National*

Feb. 20          Tampa, FL          Tampa Theatre*

Feb. 21           Boca Raton, FL          Sunset Cove*

Feb. 23          Atlanta, GA          Variety Playhouse*

Feb. 24          New Orleans, LA          Tipitina’s*

Feb. 25          Dallas, TX           Palladium*

Feb. 26          Austin, TX          Bass Concert Hall*

Feb. 27          Houston, TX          The Warehouse*

March 2          Las Vegas, NV          House of Blues*

March 3          San Diego, CA          Copley Symphony Hall*

March 5          Oakland, CA          Fox Theatre*

March 24          Minneapolis, MN          The Orpheum*

March 25          Milwaukee, WI          The Riverside*

March 26          Chicago, IL          The Aragon*

March 27          Detroit, MI          Royal Oak Theater*

March 28          Cleveland, OH          Lakewood Civic*

March 30          Columbus, OH          Promo West Pavilion*

March 31           Nashville, TN            Ryman Auditorium*

April 2           St. Louis, MO          The Pageant*

April 3          Kansas City, MO          Uptown Theatre*

April 4          Denver, CO          The Ogden*

April 6          Salt Lake City, UT          In the Venue*

April 8          Portland, OR           Keller Auditorium*

* w/ Steel Train and Holly Miranda

Amy Millan is part of that Canadian indie consortium that features a rotating cast of musicians in various musical acts acts. Best known for her work in Broken Social Scene and Stars, Millan’s latest solo offering, “Masters of the Burial” allows her to explore her more folksy, country side, but the album features guest spots from several members of her musical family, including Leslie Feist and members of Stars, The Stills and Apostle of Hustle, among others.

“‘Solo work’ is a bit of a fib” Millan writes in the record’s press notes. “Without this community, the record would be a lonely, less interesting listen.”

Millan says she penned the songs on “Masters” while in a state of limbo, when she was no longer touring but lacked a permanent place to stay and was calling friends’ couches home. She sounds world-weary on the album opener “Bruised Ghosts” and does her best Neko Case folk chanteuse impression on a cover of Sarah Harner’s “Old Perfume.” (The album also contains covers of songs by bluegrass artists Richard Hawley and Jenny Whiteley.)

The wistful “Low Sail” finds Millan promising, “Though we’re losing time / I’ll find my way back to you.”

Though the songs were written in Montreal, “Masters of the Burial” captures the feel of a sleepy Southern town, with mournful violins and twangy fingerpicking. But Millan knows how to play to her indie rock fans as well “" her country-tinged rendition of Death Cab for Cutie’s fatalistic lullaby “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” is more upbeat than the original and seamlessly incorporates a slide guitar.

Millan herself characterized the album as “the dark of nigh. It’s the sound of someone climbing into bed, the soundtrack of the time in between when the candle burns out and your dreams begin. “¦ Light the fire, pour up one more, draw the curtains and tuck in.”

Though the place she laid her head was only temporary, “Masters of the Burial” indicates that Millan made the most of the impermanence.

It should be said that “No Nations” is an ideal headphone record, as close listens expose several layers on tracks that otherwise might have seemed a bit too simple. The nuanced “Heading for Nowhere,” one of few songs on the record that have a sticks-in-your-head quality, is a great example.

Although the band, which hails from Victoria, British Columbia, would probably grimace at the comparison, Kittredge’s vocals occasionally stray into Chris Martin falsetto territory, but in a good way, as his shoegazer sentiments seem to have more depth than most of his peers’. ‚ On the folksy standout “Weathervanes (In the Way)” he croons, “If we take this something to escape that something / Don’t it just end up there in the way?”

For a band whose name calls to mind obtrusive noise, everything about the record is pleasantly understated.

“Can’t keep down a girl who loves music” sings Elizabeth Powell, frontwoman of Montreal trio Land of Talk, on “Some Are Lakes” the band’s debut full-length album. The singer/guitarist is living proof of that theory, using her songs as the dumping ground for both her insecurities and the determination to overcome them.

Powell, bassist Chris McCarron and drummer Andrew Barr continued the Canadian indie rock trend of recording in churches (see: Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade) with “Some Are Lakes” the majority of which was laid down in a converted house of worship outside Montreal, with the help of producer/guitarist/organist Justin Vernon.

The album, out October 7, comes on the heels of the group’s 2006 EP “Applause Cheer Boo Hiss.” Lyrically and musically, “Some Are Lakes” is unpredictably creative, even by the most blasƒ© listener’s standards. As chief songwriter, Powell never resorts to trite adages or rhymes to express her thoughts. From the jangly guitars on “The Man Who Breaks Things” to the chaotic, surf-rock-on-speed-esque “Corner Phone” the record showcases Land of Talk’s ability to tease the listener with an idea of where a song is headed and then jerk it in another direction.

Powell’s airy vocals continue to be the cornerstone of the band’s sound, and the record’s unpolished production quality mirrors her raw delivery.

“Didn’t I tell you there was no such thing as a bad, bad day? / And even if there was I wouldn’t believe it anyway” Powell sings on “Death By Fire” sounding as if she’s trying to convince herself as much as the listener. Her cracked, occasionally shaky singing on tracks like “Young Bridge” and “Give Me Back My Heart Attack” conveys both heartbreak and resilience. At times, it’s hard to tell which.

Land of Talk will be touring the United States in support of compatriot indie darlings Broken Social Scene throughout October.

Tour Dates:

Oct. 8 Grand Rapids, MI Calvin College
Oct. 9 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
Oct. 11 Madison, WI Wisconsin Union Theatre
Oct. 13 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Oct. 14 Omaha, NE Slowdown
Oct. 16 Kansas City, MO Beaumont Club
Oct. 17 Columbia, MO The Blue Note
Oct. 18 St. Louis, MO The Gargoyle
Oct. 19 Urbana, IL Foellinger Auditorium
Oct. 21 Richmond, VA Toad’s Place of Richmond
Oct. 22 Falls Church, VA State Theatre
Oct. 24 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Masonic Temple
Oct. 25 Brunswick, ME Bowdoin College
Oct. 26 Boston, MA Wilbur Theatre

It’s a strangely voyeuristic experience, listening to “Galore,” the debut album from Canadian electro-pop band Dragonette, almost like you’ve accidentally overheard a conversation between singer Martina Sorbara and one of her best friends about her love life.

Apparently, that’s what Sorbara was going for. Speaking to Blast in the midst of a four-date mini tour of New York and Los Angeles prior to the U.S. release of “Galore” on October 28, the pixie-ish frontwoman described herself as a “different kind of feminist” who writes with her female listeners in mind.

“Feminism is such a weird word right now. I guess you have to not be afraid of using it,” she says. “Nowadays, it’s like, you have to be sexy in‚ this‚ way. Women are liberated and can work all these jobs, but you’d better still look like Paris Hilton.”

“The songs aren’t like, “ËœOoh, baby, I’ll do anything for you,’” she explained. “It’s more of a bedroom slumber party kind of sexy.”

Sorbara’s confessional lyrics lend credence to that description, forcing the listener to assume the role of her confidante. The subject on most of the songs on “Galore” is her relationship with bandmate, songwriting partner and husband, Dan Kurtz. The pair met at a Canadian musical festival where they were each performing in their own musical projects, and when Kurtz was romantically involved with someone else.

Sorbara peppers her tunes with cheeky turns of phrase and sultry innuendos, flaunting her and Kurtz’s dalliance on songs like “I Get Around” and, most blatantly, the sassy, salsa-tinged “Competition”: “She’s got no idea where you’ve been / No idea what you’ve been doing … Your girlfriend’s the competition / Goodness I like this, bein’ your mistress.”

Chronologically speaking, Kurtz and Sorbara’s romantic partnership took off before their musical one. Kurtz continued playing in electronic band The New Deal while Sorbara released solo material. Dragonette was born in 2004, almost by accident, according to Sorbara.

“We wrote a song as a joke, actually, for a friend of ours,” she recalled. “It sounded like Avril Lavigne.”

After that, they tooled around with an early version of what would later become “I Get Around” and sent the demo to Kurtz’s manager at the time, who gave it the thumbs up and offered to sell it to another performer. But the couple decided to keep it for themselves and see what else they could come up with.

While Kurtz leans more toward electronic influences, Sorbara said she’s more swayed by jazz, folk and old country music (“I love old stories,” she says, citing Nick Lowe, Tom Waits and Ani DiFranco as lyrical muses.)

“Neither of us would get to the end of a song without the other one,” she says of their songwriting process. “It’s definitely like a half and half thing.” Eventually, they recruited drummer Joel Stouffer and guitarist Will Stapleton to round out the lineup.

The band’s first foray into the United States came in 2005, when they were tapped to open for Duran Duran on the “Astronaut” tour, at a time when they only had about seven songs under their belt.

“We were so young,” Sorbara said. “Not in age, but in band years. It seems like a whole other world away. … It was almost like an experiment. We had no idea what we were doing.”

Apparently the band members are fast learners. Fast forward to the present, and Dragonette has already toured extensively behind “Galore” in Canada and the UK, where it was released last year. First single “I Get Around” cracked the Canadian Top 20, and Jazz Age-sounding “Get Lucky” (which Sorbara originally penned as a solo song) has been used in several advertising campaigns in the U.S.

As they were writing the songs that would become “Galore,” Sorbara said, she and Kurtz shied away from the minimalist aesthetic of the Toronto indie rock scene.

“It was like, I want to be the opposite of bare minimum,” she explained. “Pop music was like our indie. It was like going out on a limb. … I think we really went there with “ËœGalore.’”

She said coming across the Norwegian singer Annie (whose first single, perhaps not surprisingly, is called “I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me”) was a pivotal moment.

“I had just kind of discovered that pop music didn’t necessarily mean Britney Spears,” she said. “I realized you can do this music and not be a dipshit.”

At the same time, Sorbara admits that some detractors might see the band’s fun, dance-able sound as a sign of “Ëœselling out.’

“Some people won’t respect something that’s not introspective,” she said. “To me, it was just like breaking free.”

“(Songwriting) is still a craft,” she’s quick to add. “Every song is autobiographical. … The songs mean a lot to me. Just because I’m having fun writing them doesn’t mean it’s meaningless or disposable.”

Sorbara isn’t the only one having fun. She leads the listener into temptation with her on “Jesus Doesn’t Love Me Anymore,” a gospel-sounding song that would give any clergy member angina with its giddy refrain glorifying “Sex, drugs, rock “Ëœn’ roll.”

“Got a little bit o’ dirty down in my soul,” she sings. Being bad never sounded so good.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that At Mount Zoomer, the sophomore full-length album from Montreal quintet Wolf Parade, contains just nine songs. While that may appear to be a measly output on the surface, what the tracks lack in number they make up for in scope.

At Mount Zoomer clocks in at nearly 50 minutes thanks to cuts like 11-minute closer “Kissing the Beehive,” which manages to avoid growing tiresome thanks to steady tempo changes and extended jams that capture the band’s improvisational recording style.

The majority of At Mount Zoomer’s songs were recorded at the same Montreal church that fellow Canucks, Arcade Fire previously used as a studio. The benefits of such a venue’s acoustics are most evident on tracks like the Arcade Fire-esque “Soldier’s Grin.”

The haunting “Call It a Ritual” opens with a cinematic, strut-worthy piano notes, and a cheerful blend of keyboards and synthesizers inject some unexpected catchiness to “Language City.”

Throughout the record, the members of Wolf Parade (vocalist/guitarist Dan Boeckner, vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Spencer Krug, drummer Arlen Thompson, keyboardist Hadji Bakara and guitarist/percussionist Dante DeCaro) wear their influences on their collective sleeve. The strut-worthy “Fine Young Cannibals” is essentially a thinly-disguised rip-off of Television’s “Marquee Moon,” but it’s a better tribute than the Bowie-imitating “Animal in Your Care.”

So while At Mount Zoomer doesn’t contain many more songs than any of the several EPs the band has released since 2003, it’s a helpful reminder to listeners that sometimes good things come in small packages.

Tour Dates:

July 7: Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom
July 8: Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
July 9: Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
July 12: Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
July 13: Seattle, WA @ Marymoor Park
July 15: Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
July 17: San Francisco, Ca @ Fillmore
July 18: Hollywood, CA @ Henry Fonda
July 19: Hollywood, CA @ Henry Fonda
July 20: San Diego, CA @ Cane’s
July 21: Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
July 24: Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom
July 25: Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa
July 26: Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
July 28: Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
July 29: Raleigh, NC @ Disco Rodeo
July 30: Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
July 31: New York, NY @ Terminal 5
Aug 2: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
Aug 3: Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
Aug 9: Toronto, ON @ Koolhaus

It wasn’t all that long ago that Canada was the veritable laughingstock of the music industry, with such smirk-inducing exports as Bryan Adams and Celine Dion.

But beginning in the late 1990s, the Great White North’s music scene began to redeem itself and now boasts some of the biggest names in indie rock and pop, including Arcade Fire, Feist and The New Pornographers.

Also riding that wave is Constantines, an Ontario-based quintet whose fourth album, “Kensington Heights,” hit shelves April 29. Singer Bryan Webb offered his thoughts on the Canadian Invasion of late during an interview before the band’s show at New York’s Mercury Lounge last month.

“It’s kind of a noticeable thing when a Canadian band gets some recognition outside of Canada,” Webb mused, pointing out that the same recognition doesn’t come for U.S. bands who find success in other countries. “We’re kind of supported and encouraged, especially ‘cause we’ve had some success in the States. It’s kind of a novel thing. But at the same time, there’s been a good run of that in Canada in the last 10 years.”

The title “Kensington Heights” is a joking reference to the band’s less-than-glamorous rehearsal space in the Kensington Market section of Toronto where much of the album was written. (“We tried to give it a little bit of panache,” Webb said with a smirk.)

Webb and the other four Constantines (guitarist/vocalist Steve Lambke, keyboardist/guitarist Will Kidman, bassist Dallas Wehrle and drummer Doug MacGregor) first crossed paths as regulars of southwestern Ontario’s punk rock scene.

“We just started as five people … playing just really loud music,” Webb explained. “That was just a scene that we were all invested in, and as we’ve gotten older, we just kind of wanted to be kind of a good rock and roll band.”

The anthemic undertones that anchor “Kensington Heights” reflect the cohesiveness the band members have fostered over the course of nine years of playing together, according to Webb.

“You develop certain ways of communicating with each other that you don’t have with other people,” he said. “When we started, it was sort of like everyone playing all at once, as loud as possible. We’re a lot more comfortable with each other now.”

The tagline often bestowed upon Constantines’ sound is “Bruce Springsteen meets Fugazi” – a description that’s bolstered throughout “Kensington Heights” by the distorted guitars and Webb’s earnest vocal delivery on songs like “Our Age” and “Brother Run Them Down,” both of which sound like vintage Boss.

“I think (the comparison’s) fair,” Webb conceded. “The thing that gets me is when people call us a blue-collar band. I just don’t know how that applies to music, you know?”

Despite Webb’s protestations, Constantines’ appeal to the working man is understandable – evidenced as much by songs like “Credit River” (opening line: “So you’ve decided to declare bankruptcy”) as by the fact that the members set up and tuned their own instruments before taking the stage at the sold-out Mercury Lounge gig.

A number of the songs on “Kensington Heights,” including the exceptional “Trans Canada,” which chugs along with a muted bassline and mumbled vocals before swelling into a crescendo are dedicated to individuals in the liner notes. “Tributes,” Webb calls them, to loved ones who are “surviving in interesting ways.”

Webb, who recently moved to Montreal from Toronto, describes the overall theme of the record as “place, especially the idea of transience being its own place” – a fitting motif for a band that’s been touring for almost a decade. That idea is best embodied, according to Webb, in “Time Can Be Overcome,” a jukebox-in-a-dive-bar type track that the singer cites as his favorite on the record.

“In that song, that idea’s applying to time and being in a particular place and time, being at a particular age,” he explained. “All of us are in our 30s, so that’s about the time that maybe nostalgia really starts creeping in … You start to look for other ideas of home or place. If you’re moving that much … you start to think about things in a different light.”

Earlier this year, home proved to be hazardous for Lambke, also a recent transplant to Montreal, who broke his hand while carrying groceries up the stairs, shortly before the band was supposed to embark on a mini-tour to showcase the new material.

“Pretty much every house in Montreal has a staircase outside that leads up to the second floor,” Webb explained. “Which is beautiful and really picturesque but it’s really dangerous, obviously, in the winter so he just slipped on the stairs. Luckily, it was only his hand, I guess. It sucked, of course, but it could have been worse.”

Although the mishap forced the band to cancel shows in New York and Toronto, they fulfilled their obligation at Austin’s SXSW festival last month, with Lambke still donning a cast. (“He’s a trooper,” Webb said.)

No strangers to the festival circuit, Constantines have shared the stage at Canadian indie showcases with bigger names like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene. But according to Webb, there’s a sense of camaraderie, not competition, among their compatriots.

“Canada is such a big physical space with few centers where you can play … (so) you tend to get to know, if you’re a touring band in Canada, all the other touring bands in Canada,” he explained. “(It’s) just a bunch of people trying to make distinctive, interesting music. We’ve been lucky to be part of really supportive scenes.”