Album Notes

Brave Radar began as the solo project of Conor Prendergast (Sydney, Australia). After self-releasing four CD-Rs, Conor moved to Montreal where he began playing music with Tessa Smith (Halifax, NS).

The Montreal-based pop duo completed their first full length release in October 2007. They promptly started a home record label, Fixture Records, on which Distracting Strangers was released in February 2008 alongside labelmates Dirty Beaches' LP Old Blood and Postcards' self-titled cassette.

With two guitars and kitchen sink drums, Brave Radar build shambolic ditties that captivate and mess about with a jarring stickiness. Their first release is a strong and dirty attempt at pop gold.


"Montreal’s buzzing scene can always be trusted for springing pleasant surprises on us, which is exactly what boy/girl duo Brave Radar have done with this debut. The fun begins with the utterly disarming “Something,” which takes you by the hand and melts you with its gaze before slipping away all too quickly. Thankfully, this fleeting giddiness comes back again and again on these songs, as the twosome go from bouncy pop to quirky folk to distorted Yo La Tengo-type ditties ensconced in a snug lo-fi buzz without breaking a sweat. Crucially, Tessa Smith and Conor Prendergast’s brittle vocals waver to and fro with detached coolness — they’re cryptic enough to keep you on your toes but personal and vulnerable enough to feel reassuringly familiar. Homespun charm may be a trademark of many a modestly recorded debut but it’s seldom you find a record that works as well on as many levels as this one."
-Exclaim Magazine


“Who knew you could be twee and noisy, pop and sketchy, simultaneously? From Sydney, Australia, and Halifax, respectively, Montreal-based Conor Prendergast and Tessa Smith deliver a debut album that jingles and jangles and feeds back politely over a three-minute outro. If only because it heightens the Velvet Underground texture of their guitars, the old-school, dirt-cheap recording techniques serve the duo well. His soft vocals lead the way on most tracks, while her clipped, girlish stylings, not unlike Julie Doiron, top a few and otherwise harmonize. Whether this will lead to more fully formed work remains to be seen.”
-Montreal Mirror