La Strada Reviewed In The Coast • 27.07.10

It’s early summer, and the warm damp air is blowing in through the windows, and the slow rhythm of La Strada’s guitars, strings, drums and accordions has a calming effect. The New York band’s first full-length album, New Home, is like a burst of positive energy, conjuring up visions of travelling and wanderlust. Playing poppy orchestral folk with an Eastern European folk influence, La Strada, who headlines Gus’ Pub on Monday, seems refreshingly together and unpretentious. The album mixes more upbeat tracks like the rousing “Wash on By” and Simon and Garfunkel-like “Shapes in the Sky” with quieter, dreamier numbers; reminiscent of bands like Arcade Fire and Okkervil River, but with a sound of their own.

http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/la-strada/Content?oid=1736395

Richard Laviolette & The Oil Spills Reviewed on Skeleton Crew Quarterly • 27.07.10

Beneath his youthful exterior, Richard Laviolette has rare spirits running amuck, some as rightfully vigorous as a man in his early twenties, others weathered and defeated by generations of hardships. That timeless passion is ubiquitous over the course of All of Your Raw Materials, a bluegrass-tinged folk record that should hold honest appeal to country purists and fans of You’ve Changed Records’ recent roots attraction.

Chocked-full of plump arrangements (including lots of banjo, fiddle and pedal steel) courtesy of the Oil Spills, All of Your Raw Materials surpasses the ambitions of a homage album on the coattails of Laviolette’s voice, all ancient yet wound-up. Although slower tracks like ‘Winterbreath’ and ‘Bodymaps’ serve the bittersweet delights, Laviolette’s charisma on ‘Funeral Song’ is possibly the most charming spit in the face to death I’ve ever heard. With a loose choral chanting behind him, ‘Funeral Song’ evokes all that’s proper about real country music, from its blue-collar camaraderie to some unforgettable musicianship. It’s a DIY punk attitude when the power’s out.

Before All of Your Raw Materials was re-issued by You’ve Changed Records and before Standard Form released it in 2009, it’s worth noting that these recordings were actually made way back in the summer of 2008. It has taken awhile for Richard Laviolette and the Oil Spills to get their due, but I can’t deny that now might be the ideal time to check them out. While All of Your Raw Materials is admittedly too laid back for these dog days of summer, the warmth and longing of its songs should afford some great comforts as September comes calling. Prepare thyself now. Old-time folk and country never goes out of fashion, especially when it’s this effortlessly authenticity.

http://theskeletoncrewquarterly.blogspot.com/2010/07/all-of-your-materials-richard.html

Glory Glory Man United Reviewed in Here Magazine • 27.07.10

To take a look at the members of Glory Glory Man United, you would expect them to be the quiet guys from high school that tended to keep to themselves. But in listening to Zombies!, you not only see these guys can rock with the best of ?em, but they do it with gusto. Mixing in the melodic pop sensibilities of Sloan alongside noise-influenced tendencies of a band like Sonic Youth, Zombies! is a solid home-run, if not a bases-clearing grand slam.

4 stars

http://herenb.canadaeast.com/music/article/1144892

“Operation Top Kill? Not for this Oil Spill”: Richard Laviolette & The Oil Spills in Here Magazine • 27.07.10

Richard Laviolette writes country songs about colonialism and croons about the heartbreak of long-distance relationships through folk. He listens to grunge music in his spare time.

The grunge makes sense. At 27, he is, after all, a product of the 90’s. The folk we get, too: indie is in, didn’t you know?

The country, he explains from his home in Guelph, is a blast from his past; a nostalgic throwback to his childhood, when country music blasted from his father’s record player every Saturday morning.

“I grew up with a lot of country music in the home, and I have this dream of making a country album with my dad.”

His latest musical venture, Richard Laviolette and the Oil Spills, particularly reflects his interest in history and Canada’s colonialist impacts on Aboriginal peoples.

“Even though some of the lyrical content in the songs can be depressing, the music will get you moving,” he says.

Laviolette and the Oil Spills released their debut album All of Your Raw Materials in September 2009, but are hitting the road for a vinyl re-release tour across Ontario, Montreal and the East Coast.

The album is Laviolette’s fourth release. He’s gone back and forth between folk and rock ?n roll, but says country will always be one of his favorite styles to play.

“There’s a history of country music being sexist, racist and homophobic. I like to take this format of music that makes me feel good and update lyrics and talk about things I’m thinking about.”

http://herenb.canadaeast.com/music/article/1144899

Richard Laviolette & The Oil Spills Reviewed in the Ottawa XPress • 27.07.10

Hailing from the wilds of Ontario, welcome to the world of Richard Laviolette and his band The Oil Spills. Laviolette and co. create a music that recalls long-ago times, the dusty bowl of olden country and western music, a place where accordion, pedal steel and banjo are the norm and where folks are not afraid to weep at the beauty of the sounds or be moved by the moment. All of Your Raw Materials crawls along at a quiet pace leaving you the rare opportunity to just sit back, take it all in, and think a bit about life. A gem.

http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/music/spin.aspx?iIDDisque=6212

Richard Laviolette & The Oil Spills Reviewed in NOW Magazine • 27.07.10

So many indie folk bands, so little time (and patience). Guelph’s Richard LaViolette and the Oil Spills stand out from the faux-hillbilly-accented, banjo-plucking pack for a number of reasons. First, LaViolette’s voice has the convincing rawness of a man twice his age and a tender yet forceful delivery that’s all his own. He wisely keeps lap steel upfront, moving the tunes closer to classic country than to done-to-death bluegrass.

Then there’s his seven-piece Oil Spills, which includes among others Jenny Mitchell (Jenny Omnichord, the Barmitzvah Brothers), Geordie Gordon (the Magic, the Islands) and Lisa Bozikovic. The dynamic band knows exactly when to push and when to pull, and their intermittent group vocals never crowd or distract from LaVio-lette’s melancholic musings about life after death and the angst of long-distance relationships.

When the album threatens to become overly dirgey, the flawless live-off-the-floor performances remind you that this project is likely best experienced in a dark bar.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/music/discs.cfm?content=176013

It Kills Reviewed in VUE Weekly • 27.07.10

The post-rock post-earth gravity of this debut record from Halifax’s It Kills is nearly mythical in its control of lore. With a relatively sparse supply of instruments, the haunting trio peels the music out from under its ribs, carrying it like a bleeding torch, seasoned with all the pain and duty that such beauty demands in its conception. The music is an event unto itself: choral, majestic, harrowing—when it kills, it opens the gates of heaven.

http://vueweekly.com/music/story/it_kills/

Glory Glory Man United Reviewed on Gray Owl Point • 22.07.10

If the musicians behind this album seem somewhat familiar to you, you’re not mistaken. Glory Glory Man United is the same band that backed up Andrew Watt for his solo debut under the name Andrew Watt and the Glory Glory. Fittingly, Andrew Watt was behind the mixing of this album.

Zombies!!! is the debut full-length from this young band and I was taken aback by how polished this band sounds. It’s as though they’re already veterans of the Maritime indie rock scene. They employ such mastery over every instrument they play and keep great tabs on the length of their songs. Not one of the songs feels too long, which is a really good thing.

You can already get a good idea of the atmospheric rock and pop sound from their opening track known as “Pop Song Automaton.” It gets off to a thundering start with crazy guitars and group vocals. It ends with “Show us the bodies” being repeated many times over.

They show that they are definitely not automatons, though, with their song “The First Monkey Shot into Space.” It has great catchy hooks, including the chorus which partly consists of “So get your gear on, space monkey.” And I mean, come on, how could you not like a band that talks about space monkeys?

“Loud Quiet Loud” shows the band going into more heavy and complex waters. You are immediately engrossed in very deep-sounding guitars and crashing drums. While listening to this song I couldn’t help but think of the PEI band the Robots.

This album is already a fantastic collection of songs for such a young band, and one can only imagine what these guys will be like ten years down the road. They’ll probably be mentioned in the same breath as Thrush Hermit and Sloan, and I don’t think that’s too assuming a statement to make.

http://glasspaperweight.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/review-zombies-glory-glory-man-united/

Glory Glory Man United Reviewed in Exclaim! • 14.07.10

The title of leadoff track “Pop Song Automaton” is quite telling. Although Glory Glory Man United have only released one EP, you get the feeling after a few spins of Zombies!!! that this Halifax, NS-bred three-piece could write perfect, hook-driven pop songs in their sleep. The manner in which they crank out the ten classics on Zombies!!! is so pure and seamless that it’s a little disconcerting ― these three are really onto something. When you consider Glory Glory Man United’s musical allegiances are as classic as Sloan and Thrush Hermit, with harder hints of Constantines for good measure, things become a little clearer. These kids may be students, but they’re at the top of their class. The juxtaposition of the super-smooth, progressive punk fever of “Loud, Quiet, Loud” against the rippling “Mountain Town” is a memorable one. It’s when the record winds down, however, during the five-minute assault of “Fish In The Water,” that listeners get a sense of not only their dexterity, but the depth of sonic possibilities. The legacy of Halifax’s pop scene has never diminished, but Glory Glory Man United may be the kind of act that can carry the torch and bring back wide scale attention. It’s a big weight on their shoulders, but something about the honest, well-rounded feel of Zombies!!! tells me these guys are up for the challenge. (Out of Sound)

http://exclaim.ca/musicreviews/latestsub.aspx?csid1=145&csid2=870&fid1=48041

Herohill Exclusively Previews New Apollo Ghosts EP • 14.07.10

I’ve made no secret of my torrid love affair/borderline stalking issues when it comes to Vancouver’s Apollo Ghosts. Almost every day I try to come up with a new way to post on the scrappy three-piece from Vansterdam, hoping not to get scooped by my arch nemesis over at Chipped Hip. Of course, I’m not alone in this quest, as the last two months have seen the band grow from local legend to Polaris Long Lister, but honestly I can’t remember stumbling on a young band as exciting as Apollo Ghosts.

Over the last two years, the band has released two killer LPs, a split 7″ with Role Mach and an EP that should make other bands green with envy. Each release is stronger than the last and considering the volume they are putting on record, it’s easy to see why critics have spent countless paragraphs in ’10 discussing the band’s touch points and influences. This time around front man Adrian Teacher takes the process into his own hands by including three covers he recorded on a 4-track as part of the new Apollo Ghosts / Divine Prophet split EP.

Obviously, hearing Adrian’s take on classics by The Vaselines, The Monks and The Minutemen is a great look at the band’s influences and makes this new split cassette a must-have, but the four original tracks the band recorded still make up the meat of this release. The reprise of “I Won’t Support Your Love” consists of simple parts; a killer bass line, Teacher’s jangly guitar and Amanda Panda’s echo filled backing vocals but the two-minutes demand repeating. “My Own Father (Caught A Dirty Bank Robber)” blends a 50′s breakdown with angrier strums and chugging drums. “Allan Smithee” could have easily found a home on their Polaris nominated Mount Benson, and “Validation!” may be my favorite AG song to date. The hint of sunshine that the group backing vocals adds is the perfect counterpoint to the head nodding riff and heartache. All in all, you might want to grab this limited edish cassette quick fast.

http://www.herohill.com/2010/07/exclusive-new-apollo-ghosts-cedar-street-ep.htm