My first post ever for Picks from Planet Venus was about Sarah Mangle, the singer-songwriter who plays the mini-ukulele and writes curious, queerious campfire songs for city kids.

So it pleases me to no end to announce that, one year later, she’s acquired a terrific backing band of string-players and they will be launching their album, congratulations ha ha ha, tomorrow night. Here’s an idea of what said band, Wet NOSE Hero, is like:

Imagine you’re watching a string quartet. I don’t know enough about classical music to tell you the shape and colour of their skill, but I can tell you they are drawing sweet and urgent strains from their instruments. Standing in front of the string quartet is The Little Prince. She is wearing a sailor hat and holding a ukulele that is barely bigger than a toy. (Maybe you remember that, like Peter Pan, The Little Prince is always played by a young woman.) She bounces up and down on the balls of her feet and yells into the microphone like she’s enormously frustrated. Then she’s singing in a voice that’s startling clear and melodic. She’s singing about construction sites and bad ideas and how her mom taught her to write love letters. You start thinking that the last time you saw your dear and far-away friend she was doing karaoke - she jogged on the spot and looked like an adorable pony, and you forgot to tell her. Okay, I lied. That’s not what Wet NOSE Hero is like. That is Wet NOSE Hero, plain and simple.

Here they are playing Congratulations at Burritoville in Montreal.

The launch takes places tomorrow, Friday the 29th at 9 PM, at the Eastern Bloc, 7240 Clark Ave. In Montreal. $6 gets you in the door, or pay $15 for the door and the album together, which is obviously the more sane option.