by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

The demo CD Trillions & Trillions from new local band SubSally is a first, and not just in the debut-recording sense. "I was happy with the way it turned out - the first time, I think, that I've been really happy about something that I've done," says Dan Philippi, the band's founder, singer, songwriter and guitarist. You may remember him from To Bed With Venus, mostly a duo with his brother Nick, or perhaps Tulip with singer Cheryl Sim. Alternately, you might see him holding down the fort at Cobalt, the cozy/chic resto-bar the brothers own in Old Montreal.

"I'm not pessimistic, but I'm really tough and perfectionist, and to have something come out that sounds good on all bases - drums, guitar, sound, everything - I'm really happy about."

And he should be. Trillions & Trillions is a promising quartet of pop tunes for grown-ups - moving, mesmerizing, light on its feet but firmly grounded. "I've played in a lot of other projects, like with my brother and stuff. I was strictly a drummer, and once a drummer, always a drummer - the way I play is very rhythmic, very percussive. I'm hardly a technical guitar player. But I had so many ideas. Being in the back, it's like I had a lot of time to think and come up with ideas of my own. I had to get them out."

Philippi humbly salutes his drummer Brian Smith and guitarist Pierre-Emmanuel Lyonnaise for making the project a success, and also Joseph Donovan, who recorded, mixed and produced the CD. "He had a lot of ideas with regards to how to make some of the sounds. There are moments in the songs that have a tendency to be quite atmospheric. My guitarist is a total talent, this guy, and I think the mix between what he was doing and what Joseph does with his own projects, like his band Marlowe, lent itself nicely to the four-song demo we recorded."