Apostle of Hustle, Andrew Whiteman’s latest side-project (or is it?), has gone under the radar since its creation in 2001. Dude, wait a second… who’s Andrew Whiteman?
Sorry about the lack of precision there. Whiteman is a guitarist/vocalist (probably a lot more than that, but we’ll stick to the basics) for the semi-collective Broken Social Scene. As we all know, BSS has spawned dozens of smaller projects such as Stars, Do Make Say Think, Reverie Sound Revue and Years, just to name a few.
Infused with Spanish musical flavors, Apostle of Hustle’s friendly indie rock applies Whiteman’s own version of the BSS aesthetics. For example, songs like “Chances Are” and the title track could very well be the work of Kevin Drew and Co., in a much more uncluttered way.
The title track and “Cheap Like Sebastien” clearly stand out with their perfect arrangements characterized by warm, exquisite and delicately reverbed guitar detail and surprisingly catchy choruses. It’s also interesting to hear Whiteman sing alone, as opposed to with 3 or 4 musicians at the same time. “National Anthem of Nowhere” concludes in beauty with a brass section, again taking root from Whiteman’s cuban influences.
While the album kinda dies in catchiness after hitting the halfway mark, audiophiles will enjoy the brilliance of Apostle of Hustle’s genius. Wheter you like Broken Social Scene or not, you should still check this one out, or at least the title track. This is yet another gem from one of our talented canadian artists that will be forgotten, gone with the wind in years from now…
Andrew Whiteman
Hail hail the lucky ones... 