“To me rock’n’roll is an exorcism that begins every night when the sun goes down, the music starts playing , and the spirits start flowing. It helps to say things to the public over dirty micro phones. It’s a way to spit out the poison.” – Jesse Malin
On his fourth studio record of new material since his days of fronting the New York glam-punk outfit D Generation, Jesse Malin has proved himself to be a rock’n’roll poet. Jesse Malin & the St. Marks Socials “Love it to Life” has more of a rock’n’roll groove rather than the straight up folk or straight pop records he has put out in the past.
The core of the band ended up on the record rather than just Jesse. Jesse Malin states he made a fast and cheap record in true punk rock style that has no fat on it. Back to the idea of five songs per side, the forty four minutes of music cuts right to the chase is a style that is very reminiscent of the Ramones.
It’s just as it sounds, a rock’n’roll social club. “Love it to Life” is not a punk rock record per say but definitely has more rhythmic rocking style. It manages to encompass all elements of the crooning poets past whether it be hardcore, punk rock or singer songwriter.
“Love it to Life” makes big songs important again. Songs are fun, yet real and shoot from the heart. They aren’t arty and weird for the sake of being arty and weird. It’s a fast and loose raw record that is charming from start to finish. Stinging guitars start the record off with the first single “Burning the Bowery” where Jesse talks about burning things down in effort to make them beautiful again. “All the Way From Moscow” is a fast paced catchy sing-a-long and “The Archer” is more reminiscent of something out of the songwriters past. “The Archer” and the fun grooved “Disco Ghetto” are both made great with the assistance of long time friend Ryan Adams and his knack of guitar, piano and fantastic background vocals. D Generation friends Danny Sage and Howie Pyro both lend hands to the record. Sage lends some background on “St. Mark’s Sunset” and “Burn the Bridge”. Where Pyro thumps away on his bass to “All the Way From Moscow”. What kind of came as a surprise where the guest background vocals on “Lowlife in a Highrise” and “Lonely at Heart” come from none other than Mandy Moore. My personal favourite on the record is the fist pumping “Black Boombox”.
I still feel that Malins all time best tracks are on other records. However this record as a whole is the most complete and still a must own.
Looks like Malin moving from Adeline records where Green Day is appreciated but much to busy, to Side One Dummy records that puts out Warp tour compilations, Flogging Molly and The Gaslight Anthem was a great idea.
It's been five years since Broken Social Scene's last album came out. However, they definitely haven't been slacking. During that time, key members Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning put out solo albums under the Broken Social Scene Presents banner, auxiliary members continued to dominate the indie rock world in their respective bands (Stars, Metric, Jason Collett, etc) and Feist made an appearance on a little show you may heard of called Sesame Street.
More importantly, the morale amongst the core members of this collective was at an all-time low due to reported friction and in-fighting. So there was a time when the prospect of a new BSS was looking pretty slim.
Well now they're back with the fittingly titled Forgiveness Rock Record. Judging from this triumphant return, it appears that all is now well in the BSS camp. This album is easily the most consistent of the BSS releases, which is largely due to the fact that the collective have pared their core membership down to "only" seven members. However, this IS BSS so over twenty "additional members" and "guests" appear on the album, including Feist, Emily Haines, Amy Millan and Pavement's Spiral Stairs.
"World Sick" opens the album with the lush movie soundtrack atmospherics that BSS have become known for. However, the album is loaded with great SONGS... not just sound snippets that have dominated in the past. What is most evident with Forgiveness is the focus on melody. These songs are definitely busy with layered instrumental backdrops but a dominant melodic line keeps the songs from drifting into self-indulgence. As a result, this is definitely their most accessible album to date.
It is really hard to narrow down just three or four highlights from this album since it is great from start to finish. However, my personal faves are the rocking "Forced To Love," the ambient "All to All," the soulful "Sweetest Kill" and "Sentimental X's," which features Haines, Millan and Feist. This is definitely a strong contender for album of the year so far.
You can check out their performance of "Forced To Love" on The Late Show with David Letterman below.
More like This is Frickin Great. The debut full length album from Vancouver singer/songwriter Hannah Georgas is a stunning collection of songs, showcasing a vast array of styles. To say this album is eclectic is the understatement of the decade. According to her myspace page, she is classified as indie/pop/alternative. These descriptions are definitely valid, but they only are only the tip of the iceberg.
Georgas has quirky indie pop/rock songs like "Bang Bang You're Dead," (which is the free iTunes download of the week) mixed with acoustic folk/pop songs like "Lovesick." She even throws the jazz-induced "Something For You" in for good measure. However, the most extreme switching of gears occurs when the electro pop/new wave "Dancefloor" is followed by the "The Deep End," which features the banjo as its main instrument.
Georgas, who happens to be on the cover of this month's Exclaim magazine, reminds me of what would happen if you made a musical Frankenstein monster out of Beth Orton, Goldfrapp and Sarah Slean. And for only $6.99 on iTunes. A helluva deal I say!
You can check out her video for "Thick Skin" (which shows lots of um... skin) below.
You can also see her in action at O'Hanlon's May 13.
Gogol Bordello are notorious for their wildly chaotic live shows. I never had a chance to see their show in Saskatoon a few months ago, but a few people have told me it was the sweatiest and most fun show they have ever been to. Judging by their Live From Axis Mundi DVD, which was released last year, these accounts seem pretty accurate.
Somehow, the raucous energy of Eugene Hutz and his rowdy crew of gypsy punks has translated fairly well to the studio, resulting in party-ready albums like Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike and Super Taranta! And no matter how much I play these albums, "Start Wearing Purple" still remains one of my favourite songs ever. (And it's perfect for a wedding!)
On their fifth album, Trans-Continental Hustle, the band have hooked up with producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty). Wisely, Rubin hasn't tampered much with the Gogol Bordello formula (or lack thereof). Instead, he has simply tightened the reins a little bit and given the songs a little more structure. What is most surprising is the subtlety that is evident on a handful of tunes. In particular, "When Universes Collide" is primarily a fairly pretty folk song that gradually builds up momentum. Judging from their past, this song should not work. Yet, songs like this add a nice diversity to a band primarily known for going full tilt all the time.
Having been signed to Rubin's American Recordings label and attaining Madonna's seal of approval, the days of seeing this band in sweaty clubs may be nearly over. However, these guys would be absolutely insane in a festival environment.
You can check out their performance "Pala Tute" from Live With Jools Holland below:
With a new western Canadian tour under way in support their Love Rock Revolution, I recently had a chance to ask the boys of Canadian glam/punk-rock outfit Scatterheart a few questions. They are on their way to your town to dazzle you with their Love Rock Spectacle. These are shows you won’t want to miss.
Without further ado, here is what Scatterheart had to say.
SPUN: When did Scatterheart get together as a band? What inspired you to make music together?
Scatterheart: Scatterheart is about 3 years old now. We decided to create it because we wanted to see a rock band that was positive, fun and wore feathers.
SPUN: For someone who may not know, what genre of music do you consider Scatterheart to be? Who are your major influences?
Scatterheart: Our genre is 'Love Rock'! We have quite varied influences in the band, but the main ones that are the same for all of us are Queen, The Police, David Bowie, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tom Jones.
SPUN: While packing your sets full of your original music, you still have fun with a couple covers here and there. If you had to pick between U2’s “Pride (In The Name of Love)” and Rush’s “Closer To The Heart” which song would make the cut?
Scatterheart: Pride (In The Name of Love) is a great song and a lot of fun to play live, but Closer To The Heart has become such a signature that we have trouble not playing it. We've taken it out of the set a couple of times and it just doesn't feel right. Plus, people love it so much that I think we'd disappoint our fans by not doing it. ;)
SPUN: Doug, as once the guitar player for Bif Naked, was it a big change to rock with the Scatterheart boys?
Doug Fury: Nope! It reminds me of the early days touring with Bif playing smaller rooms, we were on a mission! I feel that same thing with Scatterheart, I Love It!
SPUN: If you were not making music, what is it you suspect you'd be occupying your time with?
Scatterheart: Listening to music and hugging.
SPUN: Other than the Vitamix blender top fiasco back in July of last year, what has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Scatterheart: We haven't had too many big challenges, every day is just a great experience, meeting new people and playing lots of fun show!
SPUN: You will be doing a show Dirtbred here in Regina soon. Dirtbred is a little harder of band. Have you done shows as unique as this one? What are your thoughts the show as it gets closer?
Scatterheart: Yes we have! We've played with metal bands, shoegazers and country and even hip hop and it always turns out to be a great night. Put the love out to the room and everyone has fun. Just be yourself. We're looking forward to playing with Dirtbred, a good friend of ours Roque plays in the band and they are awesome!
SPUN: What would you consider the highlight of your career so far and why?
Scatterheart: There are so many, but to name a few: Playing in Korea to 25,000 people, headlining the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver and the 2009 Scatterheart Septathalon in Regina!!!
SPUN: What was the first record you ever bought and do you still own it?
Mike Southworth: I'm too ashamed to write it so I'll post the youtube video (and no, I don't still own it...)
SPUN: 3 videos have now been released for our viewing pleasure (all available on youtube for viewing), do you have a favourite?
Scatterheart: I think the newest is always the favorite, so right now we'd have to say 'The Free'. We still have a soft spot for 'Beautiful' and 'More Than A Man' though. They're all our children - don't make us choose!! :)
SPUN: Is there a follow up record planned for “The Masterplan”? Can you tell us anything about it if so?
Scatterheart: There most certainly is, it's in the very early stages, we just started throwing a few ideas around. The plan is to put work into it more in the fall, we have 1 more summer of touring to go before we retire to the studio for another album.
SPUN: You guys get a booming response the feather people, why do you think that is?
Scatterheart: It's the love we give and the love we get. It's a shared emotion with everyone in the crowd. We just try to be ourselves and have a good time and hopefully it shows and the feather people feed off that and we feed off them.
SPUN: How can fans-to-be gain access to your music?
Scatterheart: iTunes, Scatterheart.ca, call the local radio station and ask them to play it, or watch some videos on YouTube.
SPUN: Tell us about your next shows and why we the feather people should be there.
Scatterheart: We've got a nice western Canada tour that we're doing here and it's going to be a lot of fun, we haven't been out since last fall, spring is in the air, the birds are out singing, it's a great time to be travelling in this beautiful country, the only way it could get better is if we get to see the wonderful feather people out in full effect. That's what makes the shows. We love to see our fans dressed up in their feathers with their big smiles. That's what we do all this for.
SPUN: Lastly just give me two words to end this interview.
Dates 04/25/10 Scatterheart in Edmonton, AB @ On The Rocks 04/28/10 Scatterheart in Leduc, AB @ Burnsy O’Flanagan’stickets 04/29/10 Scatterheart in Calgary, AB @ Rusty Cage 05/01/10 Scatterheart in Lethbridge, AB @ Henotic Lounge 05/02/10 Scatterheart in Medicine Hat, AB @ Ottoman Lounge 05/06/10 Scatterheart in Red Deer, AB @ Cheers North 05/07/10 Scatterheart in Saskatoon, SK @ Roxy’s on Broadway 05/08/10 Scatterheart in Regina, SK @ The Exchange
Red Vienna is a band based out Vancouver BC; Vancouver is a hotbed for rock’n’roll in this country of ours that is matched only by Toronto. In the 80’s you had Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. In the 90’s you had Gob, Sarah McLachlan, Age of Electric and The Black Halos.
Soon everywhere the kids will cry for Red Vienna. This is much different in the sense intelligent kids cry because of Nickelback. Red Vienna is a good thing… a great thing.
On Saturday March 26th 2010 Adam Becvare’s Chicago based rock band the LustKillers were in Saskatoon. Bass player Denyss McKnight and vocalist Becvare both previously of The Black Halo’s advised me that old band mates Jahmeel Russell and Robbie Zgaljic had a new project on the go called Red Vienna. This excited me, perhaps more than it should have. The next afternoon when I arrived back in Regina I checked to see if it was online yet. It wasn’t. The Sunday after LK’s Regina show however, I had facebook and myspace requests. It seemed to be timed perfectly. See I am as you may or may not know a huge fan of The Black Halo’s. A HUGE part of that is Zgaljic. See Robbie Z has always been one of my favourite drummers. He is the only drummer I like to watch as much is Shannon Larkin of Godsmack. Most drummers are just there. Not Rob. He is an incredible player that hit’s extremely hard, his machine gun snare rolls are out of this world and he carries himself very well. He drives the band and keeps your attention all at the same time. He still manages to stay grounded and is one of the kindest people ever.
Jahmeel is no slouch himself. The bass lines Jahmeel punches out on the record are solid as !@#$. While he is not only a talented bass player he is also the vocalist for this new sensation. The songs that Rob and Jam Master Jahmeel (that’s what I will call him from now on) have written for their self titled EP are sick! It’s hard to describe the sound because it’s really fresh, fun and rockin’ yet it has an earthy, atmospheric kind of contemplative sound that is still very familiar to the listener. From a thought Rob and Jahmeel had in the fall of ’08 to working on the first song “Reprise” in mid ’09, it was well worth the wait. The boys were accompanied by Devin Boquist and Mark Perry on guitars that solidify the bands line up. Red Vienna has definitely created a unique record that they can call their own. You will find yourself very comfortable quickly with it. The first two days after buying the record online at http://redvienna.bandcamp.com on April 6th were spent with the album on repeat, and really listening to it.
Photo by Gucio Photography
The first track “The Best Words” Jahmeel owns from the start really ripping on the bass. With his gentle sounding voice backed by a tight rhythm section “The Best Words” is an excellent start to the record. Again the second song on the record “Low Lights” gets thumping right away. The band is definitely defining their sound early and it works for them. “Low Lights” has a bang on chorus that I am sure to be the early single. I predict this to be the crowd favourite as far as pop goes on the record. The ringing guitars and radio friendly melodies appease the ears that put you in a state of complete peace and bliss. The epic anthemic rock song entitled “Victoria Victoria” crushes from start to finish with it’s guitar buzz and steady drum. I can only picture a gang of young men steadily approaching on this number. Run they look serious! The band leads you back to their gentle atmospheric sound by track four. “The Long Walk” is that song that when you hear live will be the song the band captivates you with. Wait and see, it will be that powerful live. It’s powerful enough on it’s own but wait and see live… mark my words. This song is going to be “the moment” you fell in love with the band live. Lastly “Reprise” is a brooding/melancholy song that Jahmeel wrote reflecting a friend who had recently passed away. “We don’t think about death except for inside jokes we know. With our arms around each other, playing songs we know from show to show. Our glass eyes are cracked and the tears begin to flow. Goodbye to our snowman friend, goodbye to the winter cold. I see my friend at funeral, he’s someone I used to know” laments Russell. The crescendo that is built by about half way through will make your heart stop. It’s a hard song to listen to in that Jahmeel’s heart felt thoughts for his friend vividly come across in the song.
This is the best thing I have heard in recent memory. Red Vienna probably the best thing I have heard since Winnipeg’s “Ripperz” a couple years back.
The wait is over. After months of promising to release a followup to 2008's Hunting Ghosts & Other Collected Shorts EP, Regina's own Library Voices have finally shared their debut full-length album with the world. And trust me, it is definitely worth the wait. Denim On Denim more than delivers on the promise shown on their six song EP. While there is nothing quite as instantly memorable as "Step Off The Map & Float," Library Voices come pretty damn close a few times. In particular, "Insider Trading (On Outsider Art)," "Bookish" and "Family Night" are all potential singles.
Denim on Denim is a natural progression for the band, while keeping the core strengths of the group intact. Like Elvis Costello, the band's songwriting consists of a wordiness that by all accounts should not fit into a pop hook. Yet, Carl Johnson and company have an uncanny knack for compacting an obscene amount of literate words into lines that are so hummable. For instance, try rattling off these tongue twisting lines from "Bookish," a song about online personas:
"Somebody's little starlet strapped in a strapless garment/ Pouts and poses for a pinhole/ Struts her stuff in megapixels/ Boasts her bands and interests/ Call it digital confidence/ But she looks so bookish when I pass her on the street."
There are also elements of the soft/loud dynamic made famous by the Pixies. This is really evident in opening track, and first single "Drinking Games." The song opens very softly, with only members of the band singing the chorus a cappella. As the song builds up, there are a few instances where the song just erupts out of the speakers. I must say, it's nice to hear this kind of dynamics on an album in today's age of digital compression.
The band and producer Orion Paradis have done a spectacular job in making the album sound crisp, lush and lively. The band's live energy is still evident in the final mixes, while their signature Beatle-esque multi-part harmonies are prominently featured.
It's only April, but Denim and Denim will definitely be a contender for album of the year.
You can check out their video for "Drinking Games" below.
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