Like their moniker implies,
the Unicorns
are whimsical, riding in a mythical world of
lo-fi
experimental
pop
. The Montreal trio (with help from several friends) is strangely lovable and lovably strange, sort of like a
version of
the Flaming Lips
. Bookended with the titles
"I Don't Wanna Die"
and
"Ready to Die"
(which abruptly ends the album),
Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
has some accessible moments, while balancing some ambitious ideas with synths, recorder, pennywhistle, and clarinet.
"I Was Born (A Unicorn)"
best sums up their mindset: "We're the unicorns/We're more than horses/We're the unicorns and we're people too." Add to that a trilogy of songs that somehow ties together something about ghosts and a song that critiques U.S. foreign policy and you've got an idea of the range here. Even if their shows supposedly involve puppets, homeless people, or fighting bandmembers, these unicorns are, for the most part, real. ~ Kenyon Hopkin