Spirit If... by Kevin Drew

Spirit If..., released on Arts & Crafts on September 18, 2007, was Kevin Drew's first album under his own name, though it never really left home. Drew co-founded Broken Social Scene, the sprawling Toronto collective, with Brendan Canning, and this record launched a series billed as Broken Social Scene Presents:, in which one member steps forward and the rest of the gang pitches in. Ohad Benchetrit and Charles Spearin, who split their time between Do Make Say Think and the Scene, made it with him; Canning's own Something for All of Us followed as the second chapter in 2008.

It sounds like a house party that got out of hand in the best way: layered, hazy indie rock, warm and a little ragged. It topped the Top Heatseekers chart and reached 113 on the Billboard 200, and "Backed Out on the..." landed at 33 on Rolling Stone's list of 2007's 100 best songs, with Pitchfork's list finding room for it too.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.