8/10

In the wake of Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, we have slowly begun to hear a lot more Canadian music make its way over to our shores. And from the ashes of Ten Second Epic comes Royal Tusk, a full-force powerhouse of likeable rhythms and stomping guitars that delivers all the promise of a band you'll be expecting to hear a lot more of in the years to come. Their debut EP 'Mountain' is that exquisite combination of danceable riffs and sing-along vocals that make this new material such a joy to listen to and manages to lack the mediocrity of other bands that try something similar.

Taking inspiration from the raw rock sound of The Black Keys and splicing it with a more pop sensibility, 'Mountain' has this charming sense of warmth to it. It's opener 'Shadow Of Love', with its awkward organ and jerked riffs, could have been written by the Arctic Monkeys back in their 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' days and acts as a precursor to an EP that shows an incredibly deep diversity throughout.

You can hear almost every major rock and indie band of the last ten years somewhere within these six tracks but rather than Royal Tusk simply ripping off their contemporaries, they have immersed themselves within a sound and come out the other end with a style all of their own. With their music already sounding this good, surely they are set to become one of Canada's most promising new bands.