Mark Sultan - $

A dogged mainstay of the Canadian garage rock scene for some 20 years, Mark Sultan stakes a claim for broader recognition with this second solo set proper. Sultan’s one for the quirks, from the turban he sports with King Khan & The BBQs – one of many bands to enjoy his talents in a dilettante career – to his decision to call his last solo album the still vaguely inflammatory ‘The Sultanic Verses’, but ‘$’ is by and large played straight, to its credit.

One of Sultan’s defining virtues is his unswerving intention to marry blistering garage with sweet doo-wop melody, and ‘$’ finds the right blend. On ‘Ten Of Hearts’ we meet the intersection between late 50s balladry and aggressive guitar punch, like Dinosaur Jr tackling the Grease soundtrack; an attack matched by ‘Just To Hold You’, where Sultan wails, “I don’t need anything / Hope you love me too” to what might as well be The Beatles’ ‘Oh! Darling’ played on a fuzzbox. It’s a great sound, this clash of sweet and sour, peaking on closer ‘Nobody But You’, a psychedelic jangly blues that even while it professes undying love wouldn’t sound out of place in Blue Velvet.

Sultan can’t help but cloak even the most wide-eyed hooks in sinister shades: his otherwise impassioned voice comes with snarl thrown in, and there’s usually a hint of discord. ‘Ten Of Hearts’ boasts some wonderfully horrid sawing violin, an off-tempo guitar solo gives ‘I’ll Be Lovin’ You”s girl group twang a sickening edge and the beat group bounce of ‘I Get Nothin’ From My Girl’ is roughed up by a sneer. Not even a bout of whistling can make it look innocent.

‘$’ buckles occasionally under weight of repetition – as intriguing as it sounds, you can only hear Bobby Vee re-imagined by Mudhoney so many times – but a healthy clutch of these squalls of perverted teen-pop are pretty special. Two decades growing up, Sultan’s got a deserved second shot at youthful promise.