by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Montreal's Hexes & Ohs are a brand-new band who've been together, let's see, 10 years as of next month. The duo of Heidi Donnelly and Edmund Lam have been an "item," so to speak, from their start with jangle-pop outfit Jolly Bean, through the lifespan of the avant-tronic think-rock trio A Vertical Mosaic to today's H&O duo, blending delicate synth-pop and easygoing indie rock with some experimental flourishes. A little too dignified to deflect curiosity with creepy incest rumours like the White Stripes, they address the matter head on.

"We decided to state that angle on the Web site," says Lam, "because people will notice anyway. We didn't want to disguise that fact. People do tend to categorize us because of it - ‘You guys would like this band because they're also a couple band.'"

The "couple" aspect is important, though, in that it alters the usual pop-band dynamic. Those rich sources of dramatic tension - no love, new love, the end of true love - are off the table. "Pop songs are usually about love issues," say Donnelly, "and that element isn't there - the music is, but lyrically it's not."

"We're forced to go in a different way," says Lam. "Heidi's always asking me, because I write most of the lyrics, which are usually pretty abstract ideas, ‘What are you writing about?'"

"I'm trying to guess how he's feeling - ,"

"‘Are they about me? Are they about other girls?!' So I tell her, I'm happy with her, but it's hard to be inspired by happiness. It's when you're feeling shitty that you want to make art. Even though I'm a happy guy - there isn't really anything in my life to complain about - most of my lyrics are pretty morbid, sad and dark."

There is a note of break-up boo-hoo to their debut album, present even in the title, Goodbye Friend, Welcome Lover. But it's in reference to the dissolution of AVM following the departure of Ali Rahman, the band's resident experimentalist, on the eve of an AVM album with the Toronto label Noise Factory.

"In a way, [our being a couple] probably made the divide between Ali and us wider," says Lam, "because we'd continue our relationship, as a couple and as bandmates, apart from him. Because we're a couple, we can't help but have the two blend together - when there are issues with the band, it's an issue with the relationship. So we're forced to deal with it, to resolve it."

One thing that had to be resolved was Noise Factory's eagerness for an album, one way or another. "We felt pressured to do the record in a rush," says Lam, "so we reverted back to the things we knew, and what we knew was AVM - the electronic, abstract, post-rock stuff - and Jolly Bean - the straight-up pop hooks and melodies. So we put those two together, and I think doing it in a rush made it better. We barely had time to reflect on the music, we just did it. Then we listened to the whole thing, and it felt really cohesive, something we never had with AVM."

CD launch with Statue Park, Run Away From the Humans and DJ Paul Raymer at Main Hall on Saturday, May 28, 9 p.m., $8

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