It’s one thing for an aging boomer to fixate on the music of the early 1970s.
More recently, the children of all those boomers — now young adults in their late-teens and early twenties are, en masse, listening to the same classic guitar rock their parents were listening to 40 years ago, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Music recorded between 1969 and 1973, ideally on vinyl records.
It’s not just an alternative to the derivative, overly processed pop kids get today, says The Sheepdogs’ spirited classic rock revivalist Ewan Currie.
“I’m bored with today’s music,” the 25-year-old singer and songwriter says from his home in Saskatoon. “A lot of people my age are embracing old-school rock because it’s better music.
“I got tired of watching two girls playing one note on a synthesizer, or a rapper spitting into the microphone. It’s thrilling to watch a live band play hard.”
I think Currie’s on to something because sales of recent digital reissues of albums by The Beatles, the Stones as well as live tours by those who can still tour, like CCR’s John Fogerty, are stronger than ever, and that’s paved the way for a lot of new classic rock bands like The Black Keys, The Bees and Currie’s Sheepdogs.
“Too many people get into music today who shouldn’t be in it. They can’t play so they lift their music from them and call it sampling. That’s bulls—. It’s time that bands started playing music again and respecting the past.”
Respecting rock’s heritage is something Currie — a transplanted Australian — and his long-haired band of Ryan Gullen, Sam Corbett and Leot Hanson, does very well. Formerly known as The Breaks, The Sheepdogs have recorded three albums over the past five years of “old-school rock with southern soul and classic pop,” including their latest Learn and Burn, released in February.
“I think it’s our best album yet because I wrote much of the music on my home computer. That way, I was able to work songs out before going into the studio.”
Despite strong sales and a steady following, they’re one of only a handful of next-generation classic rock bands you’ll find running back to Saskatoon.
“The scene here is great for indie pop and country but you won’t find much retro-rock out here as you do out East and the States. We’re on our third tour van, so we must be doing something right.”
Glory Glory Man United’s “Zombies!!!” Reviewed on Ground Control • 15.06.10
There’s no arguing that there is an artistry in making records, but few bands realize all of the artistic possibilities that putting together and releasing an album affords. There are some conventions that many bands don’t think to challenge – like how to design an album cover, for example. For many artists, an album cover is easy – take a picture, pick a typeface, slap the band’s name in said typeface on said photo. Presto! Instant album cover. Not every band takes that prefabricated approach to art though; in fact, one could argue that the amount of time a group puts into its’ album cover and the methodology by which they produce it it very indicative of their underlying psychology, which would also play a role in the music that the band in question makes as well.
For the sake of argument, take a look at the packaging for Glory Glory Man United’s new album, ZOMBIES!!!. The digipack-styled album has been silk-screened in three colors (black, yellow and blue), both on the front and back covers, as well as the interior. What does this mean? Simply put, no two copies will be exactly the same; in the case of my review copy, the yellow portion is set slightly to the left of where it should be. Is that a problem? Not really, it just means that my copy – like all of the others produced, presumably – is unique; it’s unlikely that there is another one just like it.
Somehow, that is very much in keeping with the spirit of the music that appears on the album too; no two tracks on the record exactly match up with each other, which proves to be an interesting experience as it plays out. ZOMBIES!!! opens with “Pop Sng Automation” and, with its’ jagged and angular rhythm guitar figures and sonorous lead lines, instantly recalls Mission Of Burma but, unlike MOB, the band never lets its’ muse off the leash; everything about “Pop Song Automation” remains very tightly tied to pop song structures as far as being very precise and controlled with fantastic vocal melodies, yet the instrumental performance, while still rock, is very much an expressionistic form as bits of guitar extend out of the mix momentarily and then retract. The same sort of principles apply to songs including the title track, “The First Monkey Shot Into Space,” “Mountain Town” and “Maintain Your Composure,” but the basics shift ever so slightly in each track to create a slightly different finished product each time. That slight phase in design ultimately changes the band; depending on the track, Glory Glory Man United sounds like the next great shoegaze band (“Congrats”), like the band that could usurp the title of “Greatest moody group in Canada” from The Constantines (“Maintain Your Composure,” “The Fish In The Water”) or the slightly more melodic little brothers of Sonic Youth (“Sun Don’t Come Out”). Such slight alterations as those made here shouldn’t change the focus of a band so dramatically, but that’s exactly what happens here and the results are captivating because they’re so mercurial.
Because of all those things, ZOMBIES!!! marks Glory Glory Man United as a band to watch in the coming months. This album and the directions it takes combined with the overall sound of it seem destined to attract the attention and favor of Constantines, Sonic Youth and Mission Of Burma fans, but the record is made all the more exciting by the fact that Glory Glory Man United is only getting started; what they do next is anyone’s guess, but hopefully we won’t have to wait long to find out.
“I’m a princess and I live in the tower spa, and I’m having a mud bath now,” says musician Colleen Hixenbaugh, pulling off a snobby air before bursting out laughing. Hixenbaugh is using a phone at the spa of the Ontario inn where she’s staying, after a show with husband Ron Sexsmith the evening before. And she’s anything but a snobby princess. The former By Divine Right member speaks candidly about her musical shyness and her current project: being the “Colleen” half of Colleen and Paul. Musician Paul Linklater—of The Pinecones—is Colleen’s second musical half, and it’s a partnership that constantly surprises Hixenbaugh. “I’ve never had this chemistry with someone that it’s pretty effortless,” she says, adding that the two started a rock duo called Jack and Ginger years ago, before morphing into Colleen and Paul. They met when Hixenbaugh saw Linklater perform in 2003, and she asked him to be her guitar teacher. “I watched Paul play and he just blew my mind,” says Hixenbaugh. After the first guitar lesson, Linklater said he didn’t want to continue because he didn’t want to mess up Hixenbaugh’s style. “But I’ll get together and play with you if you want to,” he said, and that was that. Hear the songwriting pair open for Bidiniband this week, before they release their first album in July.
Apollo Ghosts On The Best Line of Fit (UK) • 10.06.10
Vancouver natives Apollo Ghosts recently released their second album, Mount Benson, following on from their sold out debut Hastings Sunrise. Whilst that album focused on living in Vancouver, this one looks at growing up in the town of Nanaimo, British Columbia, home of the mountain from which the album takes it’s name. Containing tales of bathrub racing , maverick mayors, hunting sasquatch and aliens down by the river, haunted lakes and softball: as they say themselves “Drinkin Brews, Heartbreak too. Things you go through”.
With only one song clocking over 3 minutes its a short sharp shock of a record, fusing jangling guitars, whoops and charging basslines with some killer hooks, and one that has lead New Pornographer A.C Newman described as “quite awesome”. We tend to agree, so we took some time out to find out a little bit more about them, and the new album.
For people out there that have never heard of you. Give us three reasons why they should?
People shouldn’t feel obligated to check us out at all…but if they do end up listening our music, I would say try to get past the shortness /abruptness of the songs and listen to both of our albums in their entirety… I don’t care if you download it illegally or pay for it.
I think the song length and odd structures / melodies scare some people….Therehave been a lot of bands in my life that I’ve listened to for the first time and thought: “THIS STINKS” only to change my mind to: “THIS IS AMAZING.” Six months later after repeated listens. That’s why I never understand how record reviews can come out, like, a few days after the record is out. Let your meal settle in the stomach.
Can you recall the moment when you first decided you wanted to become a musician?
I don’t think we really consider ourselves “musicians”…we play music regularly. We kind of think “musicians” are people who earn their living at music. That’s definitely not us…. We just love music and surround ourselves with similar minded friends.
Anyway, moving on, where do your songs come from? What is your inspiration? You seem to take a lot of inspiration from where you live- what with Hastings Sunrise, and now Mount Benson.
We’re inspired by scuzzy 4-tracks, cold beers on hot days, our jam space, our friends, books, bands like: Role Mach, Ok-Vancouver-Ok, Collapsing Opposites, Shawn Mrazek, Thee Ahs, Bad Fate, Chris-A-Riffic, Sajia Sultana, The Doers, the Papillomas, Bash Brothers, Madonna Bangers….inside jokes..There’s no direct answer to this question. Place markers like the “Sunrise” or “Benson” are nice spots to stuff the bookmark.
Why Nanaimo? Do you have any particular connection to the place or did it just appeal to you? A lot of the stories lend themselves to song I guess.
There was an eccentric mayor who started bathtub races between Nanaimo B.C. and Vancouver B.C….like the Sudbury Nickel or the Statue of Liberty. You need something for tourists to sink their teeth into.
Name your Top 5 records
Jay: Double Nickels on the Dime
Amanda: Ramones
Adrian: The Shaggs “Philosophy of the World”, The Raincoats, Fairport Convention “Unhalfbricking”
What one piece of criticism has stuck in your mind and was it justified?
I found a review of one of our early shows a few years ago…the reviewer liked our set but called us ‘racist’? ??? I think we might be the least racist band of all time…It might have been becauseAmanda was wearing an army helmet?
What one thing has caused you to waste your free time in the past 6 months?
Community Garden
If you weren’t making music, what do you think you’d be doing?
Jay: Running a cafe
Adrian: Farming
Amanda: Biking
If you could have written or played on any song, what would it be and why?
We went on tour last summer and we all fell in love with Herman Dune. We were sailing through the farm hills of Washington state while Not On Top was playing…probably that album. We are also fanboys of Eric’s Trip…so much so that we once were an eric’s trip cover band for a night.
What is the first song you put on when you wake up?
Amanda has an iPod on shuffle…usually The Bats.
We’d like you to make us a mix-tape. Pick five tracks with a theme of your choice.
“HOME RECORDERS”
1) Ram On — Paul McCartney
2) Now! — Angelo Spencer
3) Girlfriend – Eric’s Trip
4) Undiscovered Sun – Jay Arner
5) I wish I could sing — R. Stevie Moore
One Canadian band we should listen to (that isn’t your band)?
Fans who have followed the progress of Welland, Ont.’s Attack In Black since the band’s creation in 2003 have undoubtedly noted a dramatic shift from its punk roots to a much more pronounced folk and country-influenced sound in recent years. That’s been even more evident in the work guitarist/vocalist Daniel Romano has done outside of the group, from backing City And Colour and Shotgun Jimmie, to his recent collaboration with Juno Award-winner Julie Doiron.
Romano has now fully taken the plunge into the folk world with his first solo album, Workin’ For The Music Man, released June 1 on You’ve Changed Records, the label he started with Steve Lambke of the Constantines in 2008. As might be expected, the project reveals deeply personal aspects of Romano’s songwriting unlike anything else he’s recorded to this point, things he traces back to his childhood.
“My folks gave me up shortly after I was born,” Romano says. “An older couple, Dwayne and Clairey Talbot, adopted me when I was five. They said that I was an old soul and that they intended to raise me backwards. Dwayne played the tenor guitar and Clairey played the autoharp. They had me play the six-string guitar and told me my other job was to keep the wood box full.”
Romano goes on to explain that at age 13 he met his birth parents and discovered that they were musical as well. That helped him establish a relationship with them, but within a few years his life took another dramatic turn. “One day me and my brother were shooting BBs at a pop can hanging from a tree and one of the pellets deflected off the can and hit me in the eye,” he says.
“I lost 70 per cent of the vision in my left eye and when that happened, I got really depressed. Mr. and Mrs. Talbot passed away and so I decided to go back to the old house. My brothers and sisters were looking after it but no one was actually living there and so I moved in. I bought a tape player and started recording music there, and then started gigging around and selling the cassette tapes offstage.”
Attack In Black formed soon after, but Romano never lost the desire to write and perform on his own. When he set out to make his solo debut during a break in AIB’s schedule, he went back to his old house to record. Yet, unbeknownst to him, another family member had slated to tear it down, and Romano returned one day to find an empty lot. Needless to say, the tapes he was working on were also destroyed.
Instead of re-recording what he’d already done, Romano started from scratch, with the end result being Workin’ For The Music Man. “Really it was a blessing in disguise, as they say, because the twelve songs I’d written before were dark and depressing and something about the old house being torn down was sort of a relief.”
He concludes, “At the moment I realized the recordings were gone I also realized it was the same thing with the music I’d been writing the last seven years. As soon as a song was completed it was forgotten — never the same as it was in the form it took up in completion. To this day, I wish every record I ever made could be buried somewhere.”
It has long been contended that some of the best songs ever made tell a story and that is a reasonable assertion, but the truth is that sometimes there’s a little more to it than that. Sometimes what really makes a song stick with people is a combination of the images created by the lyrics and the character of the music, with some additional knowledge of the auteur; it’s less tangible, but sometimes that is the truly enduring quality of it. In effect, while the songs on a given album might be really good, they are complimented by the stories surrounding both the song and the artist and listeners find themselves smiling as they think of the correlation between the artist and the situation that the artist was in which ultimately yielded or inspired the song. Some would say that’s how legends get made.
It’s unlikely that Attack In Black singer/guitarist Daniel Romano would call himself a legend, but the seeds of that impression start getting sewn when the singer begins to talk about his new solo record, Workin’ For The Music Man, and his upcoming tour to promote it. “I’m really hoping this works out well,” confesses Romano as he begins his story. “This upcoming tour around Ontario that I’m doing is being done in a 1971 Mercedes Sedan. I traded a guy for it; I traded him a motorcycle and a guitar for a Mercedes. It hasn’t run too bad so far, so I’m just hoping it still holds up for the tour because I’m not going to have a whole lot of help while I’m out this time [chuckling] – I’m going to do them alone for the most part. My girlfriend, Misha, who sings on the record, is going to accompany me at some of the shows, but I think I’m going to be on my own outside of that which I haven’t done much before.”
In fact, there is precious little about Workin’ For The Music Man that Romano’s fans have heard the singer do before. Those that grew to know Daniel Romano as the frontman for Attack In Black won’t be surprised by the singer’s debut solo album because he has once again completely changed creative gears this time out but, by the same token, they’ll be shocked when they hear which gear he’s taken. From the moment the title track that opens the record begins to play, there is no hint of the punk rock that AIB started with present, nor are there any of the permutations of alt-rock that the band has toyed with since, for that matter. Instead, what plays out here is a far older form of roots country that no one could have possibly seen coming from Daniel Romano; and the surprise is that it works incredibly well. The singer is clearly reveling in the change of pace as songs including “A Losing Song,” “She Was The World To Me,” “Poor Girls Of Ontario,” “Your Hands” and “Greatest Mistake” all see Romano taking well to the task of genre songwriting, but there’s more to it than that too; he’s pouring himself into these songs like it’s something he’s done all his life – or wanted to – and this is his chance to prove it to listeners. From that angle, Workin’ For The Music Man is a tremendously affecting set and whether you like country music or not becomes irrelevant; the record plays solidly as a labor of love and anyone listening can feel that – even though that might not have actually been the plan, as the singer will candidly admit. “It’s funny how it finally came together and how the album took shape,” says Romano as he recalls the circumstances that eventually saw the record fall together with an ease bordering on cavalier. “I had just gotten home after making an album with Julie Doiron and Fred Squire [Daniel, Fred & Julie, released on You've Changed Records -ed] and I found that I had a bunch of time off. I had no real intention of making an album until it just sort of became one – you know? I actually made it a couple of times; I kept doing it until I really felt like I got it right which meant that, ultimately, I put a lot more time into it than I have with anything else – ever. That was sort of good and bad I think; I’m not sure if I could say that I obsessed over it, but I certainly considered it a lot more. It wasn’t as immediate or organic as some of the other music I’ve done before was. It doesn’t sound any different [chuckling], but the process was a little different for me.
“As I say, I already had some songs done when I started to even consider calling it a record but, after I decided I wanted to make an album out of it, I set the goal of making some more songs, but I kept second-guessing myself,” continues the singer. “I wanted Workin’ For The Music Man to be stripped down, but I got nervous because I wasn’t being accompanied by a band. I don’t know why, but I felt scared to be that bare; I was afraid to let them just be songs without the accompaniment of a band. I did a couple of sessions where I’d write a bunch of songs, then realize I didn’t like some of them so I’d write some more. I picked the best ones out of that lot and recorded them and I mixed them once, but I wasn’t really happy with the first mix so I did it again and that really changed the sound of the record so I was happy with it.”
After the whole thing was finally complete and a few more twists and turns in the plot passed, Romano elected to release the album on his own imprint, You’ve Changed Records. Workin’ For The Music Man is due in stores and online on June 1, 2010, but that isn’t where the story ends; now emboldened by the final results of his first solo venture, Romano says that he has already completed a new grip of songs for a follow-up album and hopes to have it released by September, 2010. “I think the next thing I do might be a little more stripped down, like I wanted with Workin’ For The Music Man originally,” says Romano confidently. “I want to have another record out in September – well, maybe October. The songs are written and now it’s just a matter of recording it. I think I’d like to call it Allergy Season [laughing]. That probably sounds like a funny title, but I’ve already done a demo recording of the album and I was super-congested at the time and, the way I’ve sort of planned it, I’m inevitably going to be recording it in the summer at some point; in which case I’ll still be congested so it’s likely to be even more nasally than Working For the Music Man was so it seemed like the perfect title. Those are pretty much my plans for the next few months along with the Mercedes tour but, after I get that next batch of songs recorded and released, I’d like to do some more touring. I’m finding that, while I was a little nervous at recording songs without a band initially, I’m starting to like the idea of taking a guitar out with me – that’s it – and just playing.”
As any expat Maritimer can tell you, the East Coast exerts a peculiar magic over its scattered sons and daughters — one that peripatetic singer/songwriter and Halifax native Steve Poltz recently experienced for himself. Although he departed Nova Scotia for California as a toddler, Poltz still has relatives aplenty scattered between Cape Breton and Halifax/Dartmouth and friends like ex-MuchMusic VJ Mike Campbell to keep him abreast of musical goings-on back in his hometown.
And so it was that during a trip to H-Town in 2008 Campbell introduced Poltz first to Joel Plaskett’s music and then to Joel Plaskett himself, hatching a friendship that would result in Poltz returning to that part of the world last year to record an entire album with the tireless former Thrush Hermit frontman.
The result is the succinct, sweet-natured folk-pop effort, Dreamhouse, a wistful effort just released in Canada through Plaskett’s own New Scotland Records that’s arguably Poltz’s most likeable work in years.
The record — which features extensive contributions from producer Plaskett and fellow Haligonian Jenn Grant — is also a handy way for the veteran troubadour to reintroduce himself to Canadian audiences who, for the most part, likely don’t know much about him beyond the fact that he wrote a bunch of songs for ex-girlfriend Jewel, including her massive 1996 hit “You Were Meant for Me,” back in the day and then pretty much bailed on the entire mainstream music industry after an incredibly unpleasant experience making One Left Shoe for Mercury Records in 1998.
The Star caught up with Poltz before he was to play a pair of shows at Betty’s earlier this week.
Q: You and Joel Plaskett seem a very logical pairing. You even sound a bit like each other.
A: It was a real natural fit, you’re right. It was strange. It just worked out. Without it sounding too weird, I kinda knew it was going to. When I first heard his stuff, I really liked it and I thought, “I wanna meet that guy.” This friend of mine, Mike Campbell, played me Joel at his tiki bar and then we were at the Carleton, this bar that he owns in Halifax, and he had Joel come by and Joel really dug the live show. Like you said, there are a lot of similarities. And then I saw that he recorded to analogue, two-inch tape on 16-track, and I thought it would be really fun to go back and do an album that way.
Q: Dreamhouse gives off this really honest, unpretentious and kinda spontaneous vibe. Was it as much fun to make as it sounds?
A: It was. We laughed and just had the best time. It was so organic, it just happened. We made the record in two weeks. I had the songs road-tested and ready to go, so it was fun for him, too, because a lot of times, I think, he works with bands who are still learning the songs that they came in with and they’re doing a million takes. It’s not Pro Tools and you’re not doing a lot of overdubs so it helps if you know your songs. I’d already been out on the road and he said “Let’s make a record” so we just looked at our schedules and he said “How about two weeks from now?” The whole time I was just thinking, “This is the easiest record I’ve ever made.”
Q: Plaskett’s a pretty good connection to have in Canada, too, if you want to curry favour with the locals.
A:I told him that. When I came in, my guitar somehow got held up at customs. I don’t know what the problem was. They asked me “What are you doing out here?” And I said, “I’m making a record with this guy named Joel Plaskett.” And they were, like, “Oh, we love Plaskett!” The guy said “I’m supposed to be off work right now but I’m gonna go find that guitar.” And he did. It was locked in some other flight. I told Joel dropping his name in the Maritimes was like being tied in with the Mob. All of a sudden stuff started happening.
Q: It seems like you’ve hit upon a good way to record and travel and make a living at this singer/songwriter stuff the way you want to do it, without any of the hassles of the “industry.” I know you didn’t have the best experience with that stuff.
A: I’m really glad I got to see that part of the record business in the last days, at the waning end. It was like the last days of Pompeii. I got to see it all and be a part of it and watch a record label order a $1,000 bottle of wine because it was what Julio Iglesias drank with them the week before. I watched them order it and I remember thinking “This is cool” and the guy next to me leaned over and whispered: “You know this comes out of your account, right?” And I said: “I don’t care. Nobody ever recoups. I’m just gonna take the whole plane down with me.” So that was pretty fun. I’d talked to enough people in the industry then that I knew nobody ever recoups. Nobody ever recoups. Unless you’re Jewel. She recouped. But I didn’t.
CBC3 Music Video Premiere: Dog Day “Rome” • 20.05.10
In this crazy age of technology and robots, independent musicians are quickly learning what it takes to become multi-tasking media guru’s.
Seth Smith, guitarist/singer of Dog Day, knows that picking up an instrument is only one of the steps in expressing yourself musically, and has shown this by directing his bands new music video for “Rome”. I got a chance to chat to Seth about this fusion of music and video making.
What gave you the inspiration to make the video on your own?
I’ve been really digging what Encyclopedia Pictura and Patrick Daughters are doing. In my opinion, music videos on TV haven’t really been any good for 15 years or so. I kinda lost a interest in them for quite a while there.
I think nowadays, people are back to doing some pretty cool stuff, now that you can do whatever you want on the internet. So that’s been pretty inspiring. It’s nice to see some weirder things going down. cheap cameras are getting better, editing is getting easier, and you no longer have to be rich to do a good looking, 3 minute video for your band. We’ve never had a budget and typically we aren’t applicable for big video grants. So other than friends volunteering to do stuff for us, this has always been our option.
2. Where did the concept for the video come from?
There wasn’t much of a concept. There were just a bunch of scenes I wanted to do. That, and a serpent man visited me each night in the dream world, commanding me to make this film. I was doing a lot of papercraft sculptures at the time with YORODEO and wanted to try building a little town that way.
3. Do you feel that you want to continue directing dog day’s music videos?
Yah. I really do enjoy it, and it’s a nice way to mix things up. When I get bored of recording and touring again, I’ll turn back shooting flicks.
Just for fun, let’s toss a bit of early Rolling Stones a dash of The Animals and a montage of some other select 60’s and 70s bands along with a smidgen of punk into a blender, the end result would unmistakably pour out as The Stance from Halifax.
These four musicians have put together a refreshing hook grabbing album titled I Left Love Behind A Long Time Ago that at times is quite reminiscent of the British Invasion of the 1960’s (“School Pride”, “Grow Up on Drugs”) that is interwoven throughout the CD with classic rhythm & blues, garage rock and pop.
Rather a nice touch to hear a cross pollination of musical genres to satisfy any musical palette with a splash a Rockabilly with “Young Love”.
The song “Jet Fighter” has eerie hints of the one time Canadian chart topper, Moxy, with similar guitar licks laced through the song.
Delivering an album mostly recorded in basements and garages puts their hands, guitar picks and drum sticks back into the pocket of their roots.
This CD is a worthy addition to most musical libraries, despite the noticeable lack of the studio polish, with a definite set of tracks necessary to crank up at any party. Given the recording quality of the album will lend itself positively with the strong sense that they are in your garage or basement delivering an awesome private show, especially during the summer.
Overall I Left Love Behind A Long Time Ago, by The Stance, produces a strong 7 out of 10.
Long Long Long Reviewed on Weird Canada • 20.05.10
From the ashes of York Redoubt’s blitzkrieg through Canada’s art-pop continuum, Long, Long, Long have emerged a deliciously sauteed phoenix. More ambitious, weird, angular, and, dare I say, funkier (maybe?) than York Redoubt, Long, Long, Long is a wild continuation of the brilliant stream of pop cognizance festering in Canada’s mathematical east. Long, Long, Long is a marvel of price-per-hook insanity and is brimming with narrative, noise, and every pop sensation known to humankind. I suggest you grip. NOW. A+++(infinity).
It’s one thing for an aging boomer to fixate on the music of the early 1970s.
