Demo/EPs
The Frontier Brothers —— “Solar Power Struggle” 5 Song EP
Off the top of my head I have decided that this is a sick Joy Division meeting the Monkeys. Yes, strange but true. I also wonder if the singer is out of tune on purpose? Maybe so but it doesn’t matter. It works justifiably, interesting too like a traitorous drunk resembling Mick Jagger whom you are trying to shake off. Alternatively I am reminded of The Arcade Fire especially with the fully loaded finale called ‘Tess” and pretending to be what you are not, the story behind ‘Dream Collection’. The opener takes the cake called ‘Jump Blues”. If you like the Detroit scene then add this to your collection.
Sam Sparro —— “Black & Gold” 5 Song EP
R & B meets “E”. Get ready to get down with a serious sense of humour to boot. Funny lines of interest are, ‘…are you my wife cause you are running my life..” on track five called ‘Cling Wrap’ or ‘…Her name is Anna, Anna Recsic, wanna fatten you up, get you back into a ‘C’ cup…” on ‘Miss Rexi’. The A+ goes to ‘Black and Gold’ and ‘Sick’ for boogie material and groove. ‘Getto Mouth’ shakes hands with Di Angelo at times otherwise, we are in the world or electro house. Dun’no, Sam Saparro provides us with a smorgasbord of tasty treats.
Red Roses Black —— “Red Roses Black” 5 Song EP
Brought to us by the letters RRB with the self titled EP, the band from Toronto provides numerous hooks and explosive melodies with moody undertones. ‘Are You with Me’ is sensible, always charming and ‘I’ve Got Nothing’ is the EPs highlight worthy of maximum rotation. In fact, it is the strongest song on the album with a winding tempo taking the song to the next frontier, a sweet challenge for The Killers and The Stills to name a few competitors. Stick that to Sony! However, ‘I Miss You’ is a slow endearing ballad full of contemplation of a past once was. The strings are a nice addition on this piece. ‘United’ is similar and ‘Deviance’ is a provocative divergence with absolute dance floor potential. ‘A New Affliction’ is darker with gloomy atmospherics contemplating a lack of warmth. To Ghetto this we find the EP to be: very L.A, slick, a mature sound, technically tight, comparative to Evanescence, The Killers, and The Stills.
Adam Chandler —— “Icon T-Shirt” DEMO
Here we have an eight song album featuring Mr. Chandler and an acoustic guitar demonstrating the man’s ability to write sweet smelling songs about love, lust, and complications. ‘Little Black Train’ captures the smokey essence of his voice in an uplifting party tune about dead people dancing around a bone fire we presume. ‘Background Static’, inquiring about the truth represents the fragility of one’s soul. ‘Shine to me’ is the most fun of all the songs and most creative vocally like ‘Background Static’. Adam Chandler is refreshing when way too much dirt seems to surface there days.
Postmark Twain —— 5 Song Demo
‘Always look on the bright side of life’ best describes Postmark-Twain who write music about life’s evolution and the lessons we learn along the way. Their music is tight and can easily be described as content for prime time drama programming. One can also see potential for power pop although they sit tightly in the world of pop rock. Their songs are warm, have a guitar basis and call on the masses to watch for their big break.
André —— “De Le Sous-Sol De Carlos”
From Montreal, André are a Francophone outfit from Montreal who surprised the hell out of me. This six track EP is fantastic and we want to hear more from them up here in Toronto. That’s what I have to say right off the bat, bravo. The vocals are warm and at times rather mysterious in monotone form with ‘450’. The songs about love, life and vision are well thought out in terms of arrangements and the acoustic backbone softens the tone at times. There are many Brit pop elements although the vocals are in a different language. I am speaking about the musical transitions and stylization. Of all the songs, ‘Yolande Wong’ has received notoriety in Quebec, a country yee-ha type of song which has more to do with cultural heritage and this explains the popularity regionally. Other songs however, gel more with the likes of The Smiths: ‘Dans Le Sous-Sol De Carlos’, Pilate, and Sloan. The best track to my ears is ‘Mon Copilote Et Moi’. Good work.
Duty —— “Promo singles”
Duty describe themselves as a catchy electronic pop rock and to some extent this is evident. They also list their influences as the following: Apotygma Berzerk, Echo Image, Icon of Coil. Their style however, takes us back to a time of enchanting synths made famous by Visage, Alphaville and A-ha. Composed of Anders van de Geer, Jurgen Lindgren and Kent Goude, write a soft but eloquent synth pop that is light and harmonious from Filipstad, Sweden. Ander’s diction is smooth and lyrically, the songs touch the gentle side of lost souls as seen with track one ‘Looks Like Love’. There is a new romanticism feeling and is synth focused for dance lovers with track three ‘Turn Your back on Me’. Finally, Track two ‘Calling’ is a just as melodic and energetic as the previous songs resembling eurodisco at times. Although, this has absolutely nothing to do with the vocals, Duty have similarities with Depeche Mode, Melody Club and Cell 7 from Australia. If you like Scandinavian-light-headed pop that makes you want to whip up your heels, then this band is for you or your record label.
Stereomovers —— “EP ONE”
Alexander Dionne and Simon Roy who inhabit the shores of Montreal are the creators behind Stereo Movers, an alternative dance outfit whose influences come from Suede, Primal Scream, Kraftwerk, and The Dandy Warhols. This is what their bio states and at times, this is evident with the sounds presented on “EP ONE” concerning dreamy ambiance elements. Upon listening to this music for the first time and having never herd this band before, I immediately heard an 80s framework. For example, the music on track one, ‘Ozean’ reminds one of Simple Minds and the guitars on track two ‘Waiting’ falls closely in line with Inxs. ‘Love Is’, the third song discussing the title’s definition, is an upbeat fun track with interesting sections offering dynamic breaks interrupting the harmony’s continuity. ‘Picture of You’ is the darkest and most enjoyed of all tracks where the synths are the strongest. It is no wonder the band has sparked interest from major labels because the EP demonstrates significant commercial potential although, their roots have been firmly in the underground electro synth scene in Montreal.
Fake Ray —— The Fumes are Deadly
From London, UK comes a three song demo and what a good demo it is. It is a mixture of stiff thrash guitars, melancholic lyrics, dark atmospheric synths. It is not quite power pop and it is not quite industrial. It is a good balance between the two within the realm of pop. The first song has an explosive chorus like those perfected by Green Day with a dark suspicious lead up that is notoriously dramatic, a carefully orchestrated hook. The second song has an equally expedient rhythm with an exceptional vocalist who showers us with a personal confession claiming, ‘I was already dead when I met you’. A goth twist is present yet the song has a raw detroit garage sound or a similarity with the dirtier side of The Libertines or The Strokes. Song three champions a vampire genre much too close to Bauhaus with a lower octave poetry recital ending with a repetitive statement, ‘Ringing Like a Bell’, a statement reminding us of the consequences of compromising individual principles. Over all, I like this demo thoroughly and those who admire early David Bowie, Green Day or Bauhaus will find Fake Ray very inviting.
The Greens —— Six Song Demo
The greens who hail from the Uk offer and six piece demo full of beautifully composed songs that are as enriching as those from Coldplay and those from James Blunt or the softer side of Muse. Each song embodies a minimalist approach to song writing where they achieve a lot by saying very little or perhaps that is how the saying goes. Simon Alton, Tom Hayward, and Tim Jenkins who make up the band score highly with ‘Not Very Much’ a stripped down acoustic piece that has a very warm melody and lyrics about someone who isn’t doing very well in life. The vocals on ‘Over My Head’ are reminiscent of those from Ride. ‘Kirsty’ is a monotonous strum-a-long ballad about beach life and love. Both ‘Settle Down’ and ‘Apple bobbing’ make good use of the piano with excellent build up and are rather charming. there are no complications here. The Greens are full of potential and simplicity.
Pas/cal —— Oh Honey, We’re Ridiculous EP
This EP from Pas/cal is a happy, whimsical, cheeky, upbeat day at the beach. Excellent instrumentation exists through out each song with exceptional arrangement and melody. The cheery mood created on this EP is in line with other greets such as The Kinks, Belle & Sebastian, and The Carousels from Doncaster, UK. I would encourage people to pick up a copy of “Oh Honey, We’re Ridiculous” to cheer up your rainy day.
As I mentioned, this is a happy mix of songs. The first track, ‘What Happened to the Sands’ encompasses a variety of motivating structures, breaks and a chorus that simply kicks ass. It is the strongest track with very slick vocals. Track two, ‘Poor Maude’ is a slower piece like three and four with beautiful strings, piano and percussion about human longevity or rather life expectancy and the quality of life. Track five, ‘What do the American Girls Have on Jennifer JoJo?’ has use of what sounds like a slide guitar. The sounds are crisp, in 1-2-3 step sequencing and there is a jazz improv feel where the direction of the song is not obvious and therefore it fails to be boring. This song questions the ups and downs of life is different countries and comes to the conclusion that there are problems every where. This is a strong song and I like it the best.
I was immediately impressed with track one and five. However, the other pieces made me listen a bit more closely. The music of Pas/cal is charming, complicated, polished and has a flair for retro everything especially a decadent lifestyle. I read from their web site that they are from Detroit and I immediately jumped the gun, “Why is so much good music coming out of Detroit, hunh?”. One will never know but the strength of this band is their use of falsetto, arrangement, instrumentation. It is light, very light in fact and is similar to but does not reach the depths of dramatic overtures generally associated with The Dears from Toronto or Pulp from the UK. Maybe this is not their intention and it is not necessarily a bad characteristic either. It is simply different and that is what I like about Pas/cal.
