Animals & Architects
sir005 | Released: April 2007
- Open War
- Hearts Like Bears
- Bloody Nose
- I Fight Birds
- In The Woods
- Paper Bag
- Pounds of Sparks
- Local Man
- Saskatoon
- Bad Swimmer
How Maybe Smith would follow his fourth album—the critically acclaimed, podcast favourite Second Best Death (sir004 2006)—was at first a bit of a conundrum. But the answer proved to be surprisingly simple: ditch the acoustic guitar and quit crying. Listening to the song “Wah-Wah” by George Harrison on repeat helped guide the way.
The result is Animals & Architects, Maybe Smith’s fourth full-length effort and fifth release overall since 2002. An album full of rollicking pop songs, Animals & Architects is sparked at every chord change with sing-along vocals, pounding drums and curious electronics. From the opening guitar line and closing la-la’s of lead-off track “Open War”, through to the piano banging and electronic chaos of closer “Bad Swimmer”, this delightful wall-of-sound is like a wonderfully bizarre combination of Phil Spector and Frank Gehry.
Written and produced by Colin Skrapek in Saskatoon, June 2006 – January 2007. Mastered by Joel Grundahl. Illustrations by Todd Gronsdahl. Short story contributed by Sheena B. Miller.
Animals & Architects review from I (heart) Music
Tuesday November 20, 2007
Maybe it’s just me, but I always enjoy albums more when they seem to come out of nowhere and blow me away. Animals & Architects is probably a pretty good example of this…If we really are in a new age of music consumption, however, and people are willing to accept that the year’s best album may just come from the middle of the prairies, then Animals & Architects might just put the Saskatchewan music boom on the map. Read full article »
Animals & Architects review from PopMatters
Friday June 22, 2007
[Animals & Architects] sounds nothing like what you think of when you think of the Canadian prairies. Instead of being a record of gentle acoustic or steel guitars, Animals & Architects is an album built on a foundation of distorted piano loops, catchy melodies and electronic squiggles. Skrapek’s music has much more in common with the big city sample-based Russian Futurists than it does with the handful of famed Saskatchewanian (Saskatchewonian? Saskatchwanese?) singer-songwriters, like, say, Joni Mitchell… With music this good coming out of the province, maybe there is a reason to visit Saskatchewan after all. Read full article »
Animals & Architects review from Vue Weekly
Thursday June 14, 2007
Animals & Architects, Skrapek’s fifth release in as many years, is already garnering nods from the likes of CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence. Rightly so: the record is chock-full of Maybe Smith’s signature fuzzy electronica, surprisingly and undeniably fun-loving. You’ll be hard-pressed not to sing along, roll down your window and turn it up. Read full article »
Animals & Architects review from Chart Magazine
Tuesday May 22, 2007
Saskatchewan’s Maybe Smith (a.k.a Colin Skrapek) has written and produced all four of his full-length albums. Perhaps by virtue of his mono-artistic method, his songs sound like a beehive of co-operative harmonic loops, fuzzy drum machines and lap steel guitar wrapped around layered vocals. The result hovers somewhere between Peter, Bjorn & John’s simple electro-folk aesthetic—“In The Woods” could easily moonlight as a track from Writer’s Block—and the honest pop musicality of Yo La Tengo. It’s a winning combination. Skrapek accomplishes on his own what many bands fail to achieve as a collective, all without coming off contrived, which is why it’s surprising that he’s remained below the radar for so long. Here’s your chance to discover a true northern talent.
Sir, Handsome Records is an independent record label based out of Saskatoon, SK, Canada. We make and release top notch music. Most 
